nine in the morning
Roland took the First Consul 's hand , meaning to kiss it ; but Bonaparte drew him quickly to him . `` Embrace me , my dear Roland , '' he said , `` and good luck to you . '' Two hours later Roland was rolling along in a post-chaise on the road to Orleans . The next day , at nine in the morning , he entered Nantes , after a journey of thirty-three hours . About the hour when Roland was entering Nantes , a diligence , heavily loaded , stopped at the inn of the Croix-d'Or , in the middle of the main street of Châtillon-sur-Seine . In those days the diligences had but two compartments , the coupé and the interior ; the rotunda is an adjunct of modern times . The diligence had hardly stopped before the postilion jumped down and opened the doors .