midnight
And some said it was marvellous that there they could sit or stand and talk of such things -- for a year or so ago all the Court was spies , so that the haymen mistrusted them that forked down the straw , and meat-servers them with the wine . But now each man could talk as he would , and it made greatly for fellowship when a man could sit against a wall , unbutton in the warm nights , and say what he listed . The light of the great fires grew dull in the line of kitchen windows ; sweethearting couples came in through the great gateway from the grass-slopes beneath the castle walls . There was a little bustle when four horsemen rode in to say that the King 's Highness was but nine miles from the castle , and torchmen must be there to light him in towards midnight . But the Queen should not be told for her greater pleasure and surprise . Then all these servingmen stood up and shook themselves , and said -- ` To bed . ' For , on the morrow , with the King back , there would surely be great doings and hard work .