midnight
During his next interview with his dulcinea , far from discovering the least sign of jealousy or discontent , he affected the appearance of extraordinary fondness , and , after having spent the afternoon with the show of uncommon satisfaction , told her he was engaged in a party for Fountainebleau , and would set out from Paris that same evening ; so that he should not have the pleasure of seeing her again for some days . The lady , who was very well versed in the arts of her occupation , pretended to receive this piece of news with great affliction , and conjured him , with such marks of real tenderness , to return as soon as possible to her longing arms , that he went away almost convinced of her sincerity . Determined , however , to prosecute his scheme , he actually departed from Paris with two or three gentlemen of his acquaintance , who had hired a remise for a jaunt to Versailles ; and having accompanied them as far as the village of Passe , he returned in the dusk of the evening on foot . He waited impatiently till midnight , and then , arming himself with a brace of pocket-pistols , and attended by trusty Tom with a cudgel in his hand , repaired to the lodgings of his suspected inamorata . Having given Pipes his cue , he knocked gently at the door , which was no sooner opened by the lacquey , than he bolted in , before the fellow could recollect himself from the confusion occasioned by his unexpected appearance ; and , leaving Tom to guard the door , ordered the trembling valet to light him upstairs into his lady 's apartment . The first object that presented itself to his view , when he entered the antechamber , was a sword upon the table , which he immediately seized , exclaiming , in a loud and menacing voice , that his mistress was false , and then in bed with another gallant , whom he would instantly put to death . This declaration , confirmed by many terrible oaths , he calculated for the hearing of his rival , who , understanding his sanguinary purpose , started up in great trepidation , and , naked as he was , dropped from the balcony into the street , while Peregrine thundered at the door for admittance , and , guessing his design , gave him an opportunity of making this precipitate retreat .