midnight
cried Leander . `` Oh I tell me quickly what it is ; I am dying to hear it . '' `` Well , here it is , then , word for word , '' said the tiny page jauntily . `` If Lygdamon is as brave as he is gallant , he will go at midnight to the open square in front of the church , where he will find a carriage awaiting him ; he will enter it without question , as without fear , and go whither it will take him . '' Before the astonished Leander had time to answer , the page had disappeared in the crowd , leaving him in great perplexity , for if his heart beat high with joy at the idea of a romantic adventure , his shoulders still reminded him painfully of the beating he had received in a certain park at dead of night , and he remembered with a groan how he had been lured on to his own undoing . Was this another snare spread for him by some envious wretch who begrudged him his brilliant success that evening , and was jealous of the marked favour he had found in the eyes of the fair ladies of Poitiers ? Should he encounter some furious husband at the rendezvous , sword in hand , ready to fall upon him and run him through the body ?