midnight
It was not the peril in which he stood , however -- though , with the cold clear eye of the man who had often faced peril , he appreciated it to a nicety -- that Count Hannibal found least bearable , but his enforced inactivity . He had thought to ride the whirlwind and direct the storm , and out of the danger of others to compact his own success . Instead he lay here , not only powerless to guide his destiny , which hung on the discretion of another , but unable to stretch forth a finger to further his plans . As he sat looking darkly at the lanthorn , his mind followed Biron and his riders through the midnight streets along St. Antoine and La Verrerie , through the gloomy narrows of the Rue la Ferronerie , and so past the house in the Rue St. Honore where Mademoiselle sat awaiting the morrow -- sat awaiting Tignonville , the minister , the marriage ! Doubtless there were still bands of plunderers roaming to and fro ; at the barriers troops of archers stopping the suspected ; at the windows pale faces gazing down ; at the gates of the Temple , and of the walled enclosures which largely made up the city , strong guards set to prevent invasion . Biron would go with sufficient to secure himself ; and unless he encountered the bodyguard of Guise his passage would quiet the town . But was it so certain that _ she _ was safe ?