eight o'clock
I might almost say two only , for formerly there were but five in all , and for many years past the secret has been well preserved by the deaths of the principal participators in it . The late king sleeps now with his ancestors ; Peronne , the midwife , soon followed him ; Laporte is already forgotten . '' The queen opened her lips as though about to reply ; she felt , beneath her icy hand , with which she kept her face half concealed , the beads of perspiration upon her brow . `` It was eight o'clock , '' pursued the Beguine ; `` the king was seated at supper , full of joy and happiness ; around him on all sides arose wild cries of delight and drinking of healths ; the people cheered beneath the balconies ; the Swiss guards , the musketeers , and the royal guards wandered through the city , borne about in triumph by the drunken students . Those boisterous sounds of the general joy disturbed the dauphin , the future king of France , who was quietly lying in the arms of Madame de Hausac , his nurse , and whose eyes , as he opened them and stared about , might have observed two crowns at the foot of his cradle . Suddenly your majesty uttered a piercing cry , and Dame Peronne immediately flew to your bedside . The doctors were dining in a room at some distance from your chamber ; the palace , deserted from the frequency of the irruptions made into it , was without either sentinels or guards .