midnight
With his unsettled or unstable political opinions , I greatly dreaded the excess to which a spirit of revenge might carry him . I knew that the Jacobin party , and the Bourbons themselves , lay in wait for every erring member of the Imperial side ; and I felt no little anxiety at the temptations they might hold out to him , at a moment when his excitement might have the mastery over his cooler judgment . Late in the evening a Government messenger arrived with a large letter addressed to him from the Minister of War ; and even this caused me fresh uneasiness , since I connected the despatch in my mind with some detail of duty which his absence might leave unperformed . It was long past midnight , as I sat , vainly endeavoring to occupy myself with a book , which each moment I laid down to listen , when suddenly I heard the roll of a _ fiacre _ in the court beneath , the great doors banged and closed , and the next moment the chevalier entered the room . He was dressed in plain clothes , and looked somewhat paler than usual , but though evidently laboring under excitement , affected his wonted ease and carelessness of manner , as , taking a chair in front of me , he sat down . `` What a day of worry and trouble this has been , my dear friend ! '' he began .