eight o'clock in the morning
The hardest part of the journey was that I knew , no more than the dead -- indeed not so much -- why it was that Mr. Chiffinch had sent for me . He had said nothing in his letter , save that His Majesty wished my presence at once ; and on the outside of the letter was written the word `` Haste , '' three times over . I thought of a hundred matters that it might be , but none of them satisfied me . It is near forty miles from Hare Street to Whitehall ; but so bad was the way that , though we changed horses at Waltham Cross -- at the _ Four Swans _ -- we did not come to London until eight o'clock in the morning ; and it was half-past eight before we rode up to Whitehall . The last part of the journey was pretty pleasant , for the rain held off ; and it was strange to see the white hard light of the clouded dawn upon the fields and the trees . But by the time we came to London it was long ago broad day -- by three or four hours at the least ; and all the folks were abroad in the streets . I went straight to Mr. Chiffinch 's lodgings , sending my man to the lodging in Covent Garden , to bestow the horses and to come again to the guard-house to await my orders .