seven o'clock in the morning
I rang the bell of a hotel were I was known . I had knocked the dust off my clothes with my hands , and I told the porter that I had lost my bunch of keys , which included also that to the kitchen garden , where my servants slept in a house standing by itself , on the other side of the wall of the inclosure which protected my fruits and vegetables from the raids of marauders . I covered myself up to the eyes in the bed which was assigned to me , but could not sleep ; and I waited for the dawn listening to the throbbing of my heart . I had given orders that my servants were to be summoned to the hotel at daybreak , and my valet de chambre knocked at my door at seven o'clock in the morning . His countenance bore a woeful look . `` A great misfortune has happened during the night , Monsieur , '' said he . `` What is it ? ''