noon
I looked at them for a moment , unable to credit my eyes , and then I spoke to them in German , saying , `` Where the devil 's my coach-and-four ? '' They both straightened , startled : the one who was holding the wheel almost dropped it . `` Pardon , excellency , '' he said , `` there 's been no coach-and-four here , all the time we 've been here . '' `` Yes , '' said his mate , `` and we 've been here since just after noon . '' I did not attempt to argue with them . It occurred to me -- and it is still my opinion -- that I was the victim of some plot ; that my wine had been drugged , that I had been unconscious for some time , during which my coach had been removed and this wagon substituted for it , and that these peasants had been put to work on it and instructed what to say if questioned . If my arrival at the inn had been anticipated , and everything put in readiness , the whole business would not have taken ten minutes .