nine o’clock
The seemingly interminable lines of lamplight , the crash of carriages , the glare of the shops , the buzz of voices , made up a chaotic mass of sights and sounds , leaving my efforts at thought vain and fruitless . Obedient to my instructions , I lost not a moment in my preparations to deliver my despatches . Having dressed myself in the full uniform of my corps , I drove to the Horse Guards . It was now nine o'clock , and I learned that his Royal Highness had gone to dinner at Carlton House . In a few words which I spoke with the aide-de-camp , I discovered that no information of the fall of Ciudad Rodrigo had yet reached England . The greatest anxiety prevailed as to the events of the Peninsula , from which no despatches had been received for several weeks past . To Carlton House I accordingly bent my steps , without any precise determination how I should proceed when there , nor knowing how far etiquette might be an obstacle to the accomplishment of my mission .