seven o’clock
in the evening
An accomplice against his own will , Malin was required to have these documents secretly printed , and the copies held ready in his own house for distribution if Bonaparte were defeated . The printer was subsequently imprisoned and detained two months ; he died in 1816 , and always believed he had been employed by a Montagnard conspiracy . `` One of the most singular scenes ever played by Fouche 's police was caused by the blunder of an agent , who despatched a courier to a famous banker of that day with the news of a defeat at Marengo . Victory , you will remember , did not declare itself for Napoleon until seven o'clock in the evening of the battle . At midday the banker 's agent , considering the day lost and the French army about to be annihilated , hastened to despatch the courier . On receipt of that news Fouche was about to put into motion a whole army of bill-posters and cries , with a truck full of proclamations , when the second courier arrived with the news of the triumph which put all France beside itself with joy . There were heavy losses at the Bourse , of course .