Seven o'clock
There was no resistance to be feared ; on arresting the prince they would turn his course toward Charenton , where the postmaster was , as we have said , in the interest of Madame de Maine , take him into the courtyard , whose door would close upon him , force him to enter a traveling carriage , which would be waiting with the postilion in his saddle ; D'Harmental and Valef would seat themselves by him , they would cross the Marne at Alfort , the Seine at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges , reach Grand-Vaux , then Monthéry , and find themselves on the road to Spain . If at any of the villages where they changed horses the regent endeavored to call out , D'Harmental and Valef would threaten him , and , if he called out in spite of the menaces , they had that famous passport to prove that he who claimed assistance was not the prince , but only a madman who thought himself the regent , and whom they were conducting to his family , who lived at Saragossa . All this was a little dangerous , it is true , but , as is well known , these are the very enterprises which succeed , so much the easier from their unforeseen audacity . Seven o'clock , eight o'clock , struck successively . D'Harmental and his companions saw with pleasure the night approaching , and the darkness falling more and more dense and black around them ; two or three carriages had already given false alarms , but had had no other effect than preparing them for the real attack . At half-past eight the night was pitch-dark , and a sort of natural fear , which the conspirators had felt at first , began to change into impatience . At nine o'clock they thought they could distinguish sounds .