midnight
`` How I envy those who can wield the pen , '' she sighed . `` I wish I could chronicle the story of the kings who have been safely hidden for generations . Patiently , devotedly , for two centuries have they waited for this day to dawn , the first opportunity that Krovitch has had to take back her own from the despoiler of Europe . The narrative from where general information ends , '' she continued , `` briefly is as follows : King Stovik with his queen and infant son escaped by the connivance of a loyal nobleman on the midnight of the intended assassination of the overthrown dynasty . With two servants , husband and wife , who insisted on sharing the exile , he left Krovitch to find an asylum in a strange country , where caution led him to change his name . Certain it is that his subjects never learned the place of his retreat though they were well assured that his line was maintained in exile . After some years of silence , during which the heir apparent had reached a marriageable age , King Stovik sent again to his native land , to that nobleman in fact who had aided his escape , beseeching that from the maidens of noble birth a bride should be selected and sent back under the care of the messenger , who was none other than the faithful servant who had shared all the tribulations of the royal family .