ten o'clock in the
morning
It was the fifth of March , a warm and sunny day in the south of France , even amid the mountains and hills of ancient Dauphiné . Great things were toward , although the Marquis did not yet know it . The execution of the condemned was set for the next day . At ten o'clock in the morning the regiment was to be paraded and Marteau was to be shot . He had asked that he might be granted a soldier 's death , and the Marquis had seen fit to grant the request . There were very few troops in Grenoble which could be counted as loyal to the King , but there were some . From them the Marquis intended to draw his firing party , and with them he intended to over-awe the regiment if there should be any outbreak .