one o'clock
He had for an instant the idea -- not daring to renew the request which he had made the day before , to have news of him sent to his ward -- of imitating the man with the iron mask , who had thrown a silver plate from the window of his prison on to the shore , by throwing a letter from his balcony into the courtyard of the Palais Royal ; but he knew what a fatal result this infraction of the will of Monsieur de Saint-Mars had had for the unfortunate prisoner , so that he feared , by such an action , to increase the rigors of his captivity , which at present seemed to him tolerable . The result of all these reflections was , that Buvat passed the morning in a much less agitated manner than he had the evening and the night ; moreover , his hunger -- appeased by the roll and the coffee -- only existed in the form of that appetite which is an enjoyment when one is sure of a good dinner . Add to all this the particularly cheerful look-out which the prisoner had from his window , and it will be easily understood that mid-day arrived without too many sorrows , or too much ennui . Exactly at one o'clock the door opened , and the table reappeared ready laid , and brought , like the day before and that morning , by the two valets . But this time , it was neither Monsieur Bourguignon nor Monsieur Comtois who sat down to it . Buvat declared himself perfectly reassured concerning the intentions of his august host ; he thanked Messieurs Comtois and Bourguignon for the devotion of which each in turn had given him a proof , and begged them to wait upon him in their turn . The two servants made wry faces , but obeyed .