midnight
But I did even this at last , and , evading the obsequious offers which were made me on all sides , escaped to the stables , where I sought out the Cid 's stall , and lying down in the straw beside him , began to review the past , and plan the future . Under cover of the darkness sleep soon came to me ; my last waking thoughts being divided between thankfulness for my escape and a steady purpose to reach Meudon before the Vicomte , so that I might make good my tale in his absence . For that seemed to be my only chance of evading the dangers I had chosen to encounter . Making so early a start from Etampes that the inn , which had continued in an uproar till long after midnight , lay sunk in sleep when we rode out of the yard , we reached Meudon about noon next day . I should be tedious were I to detail what thoughts my mistress and I had during that day 's journey -- the last , it might be , which we should take together ; or what assurances we gave one another , or how often we , repented the impatience which had impelled us to put all to the touch . Madame , with kindly forethought , detached herself from us , and rode the greater part of the distance with Fanchette ; but the opportunities she gave us went for little ; for , to be plain , the separation we dreaded seemed to overshadow us already . We uttered few words , through those few were to the purpose , but riding hand-in-hand , with full hearts , and eyes which seldom quitted one another , looked forward to Meudon and its perils with such gloomy forebodings as our love and my precarious position suggested .