seven o'clock in the
morning
The consequence was that Gouache rose early on the following morning and went towards the church with a light heart . He did not know certainly that Faustina would come there , and indeed there were many probabilities against her doing so , but in the hopefulness of a man thoroughly in love , Gouache looked forward to seeing her with as much assurance as though the matter had been arranged and settled between them . The parish church of Sant ' Agostino is a very large building . The masses succeed each other in rapid succession from seven o'clock in the morning until midday , and a great crowd of parishioners pass in and out in an almost constant stream . It was therefore Gouache 's intention to arrive so early as to be sure that Faustina had not yet come , and he trusted to luck to be there at the right time , for he was obliged to visit the temporary barrack of his corps before going to the church , and was also obliged to attend mass at a later hour with his battalion . On presenting himself at quarters he learned to his surprise that Monte Rotondo had not surrendered yet , though news of the catastrophe was expected every moment . The Zouaves were ordered to remain under arms all day in case of emergency , and it was only through the friendly assistance of one of his officers that Anastase obtained leave to absent himself for a couple of hours .