ten o’clock at night
said all the others . `` May God give us good luck . '' They set off , under the direction of their guide , to take them to the house of the lady by whom he was esteemed , though he did not return her affection as he ought to have done ; but now he determined to devote to her the love which had been so roughly refused by his first mistress , and he determined to love , serve , and obey her who loved him so , and with whom , please God , he would soon be . To shorten the story , after riding for a good hour and a half with the drenching rain on their backs , they came to the house of the lady who has previously being mentioned , and gaily knocked at the door , for it was very late , -- between nine and ten o'clock at night , and they much feared that all the household would be in bed . Varlets and servant maids at once came forth , and asked , `` Who is there ? '' and they were told . They went at once to their mistress , who was then in her petticoat , and had put on her nightcap , and said , `` Madame , my lord so-and-so is at the gate and would fain enter ; and with him certain knights and squires of the Court to the number of three . ''