Six o’clock
We shall be free by nine o'clock , Fritz . I wish young Rupert would come to the lodge ! '' And the colonel 's face expressed a lively pleasure at the idea . Six o'clock struck , and the king did not appear . A few moments later , a message came from the queen , requesting our presence on the terrace in front of the chateau . The place commanded a view of the road by which the king would ride back , and we found the queen walking restlessly up and down , considerably disquieted by the lateness of his return . In such a position as ours , every unusual or unforeseen incident magnifies its possible meaning , and invests itself with a sinister importance which would at ordinary times seem absurd .