midday
People swear and gnash their teeth when they think of it now . But it was evident , even at the time , that if the committee were to displease them in anything , or if anything went wrong at the ball , the outburst of indignation would be something surprising . That 's why every one was secretly expecting a scandal ; and if it was so confidently expected , how could it fail to come to pass ? The orchestra struck up punctually at midday . Being one of the stewards , that is , one of the twelve `` young men with a rosette , '' I saw with my own eyes how this day of ignominious memory began . It began with an enormous crush at the doors . How was it that everything , including the police , went wrong that day ?