morning about ten o'clock
He led her gently to her seat , knelt down before her , and kissed her left hand as it hung by her side , whilst with the right she stroked the hair upon his brow . The star was veiled with clouds , the baleful meteor glowed in vivid brightness . The crowd flowing along the Quai Voltaire in Paris , on the shores of the Seine , changed its varied pictures so quickly that it resembled a kaleidoscope . One bright morning about ten o'clock , a man was to be seen pursuing his way with hasty steps from the Rue Bonaparte across the bridge towards the Tuileries . Although he was scarcely of the middle height , and rather shabby in dress , yet he caused many passengers to look at him for a moment -- certainly only for a moment , but a Parisian seldom looks at anything much longer -- from the unusual swiftness of his step , and the thoughtfulness with which he hastened on without looking to right or left , pursuing his way in a manner which proved him to be usually a dweller in large capitals . The man thus hurrying to the royal and imperial palace was even meanly clad ; from his dress , and his bent form , he might have been supposed a master in some elementary school , or a lawyer 's clerk ; but the changing expression of his sharply-cut features , his red and white northern complexion , and the penetrating glances of his light grey eyes , gave to his appearance a character which belied the impression first formed . The man gained the other side of the Seine and entered the courtyard leading to the portal of the Tuileries .