about eight o'clock
Then he walked on with a quick merry step , and with laughing lips he hummed to himself -- `` And had she not promised my life to be , No life would ever be won by me ! '' The greatest activity prevailed in Vienna -- in the vicinity of the Hofburg . -LSB- 5 -RSB- Aides-de-camp and orderlies came and went backwards and forwards to head-quarters , which were literally fringed with staff officers . Although it was still early , only about eight o'clock , groups of inquisitive people stood here and there in the large court yard , and looked at each coming or going officer with the greatest anxiety , as if he must be the bearer of most important news . Public feeling was highly excited . Every one knew that important events lowered like a tempest in the air , and that any moment might bring the dazzling flash , followed by the mighty thunder-clap , which would disperse the sultry fog . The good citizens of Vienna were in a warlike mood .