noon
I will be with you within an hour . '' The girl went up the narrow street , and the two men wended their way in silence to the Chateau St. Louis . After this incident the Square gradually emptied until only a few idlers were left . A little before noon Roderick Hardinge stepped down from his quarters into the courtyard of the barracks , booted and spurred . A full-blooded iron-grey charger , instinct with speed and strength in every limb , stood saddled and bridled for him . The man who held him by the head happened to be the soldier whose watch Hardinge had kept the night before . `` Is that you , Charles ? ''