three
o'clock in the morning
Meeting soon afterwards another man with a bundle of weapons on his shoulder , the intrigued Huguenot gentleman asked him bluntly what he carried and whither he went . `` It is for the divertissement at the Louvre tonight , '' he was answered . But in the Louvre the Queen-Mother and the Catholic leaders , the labours of preparation ended , were snatching a brief rest . Between two and three o'clock in the morning Catherine and Anjou repaired again to the King 's cabinet . They found him waiting there , his face haggard and his eyes fevered . He had spent a part of the evening at billiards , and among the players had been La Rochefoucauld , of whom he was fond , and who had left him with a jest at eleven o'clock , little dreaming that it was for the last time . The three of them crossed to the window overlooking the river .