four o’clock
I interrupted , with the frankness of speech you know I always use ; `` I execrate academies ; they are stiflers , extinguishers , assemblages of sloths , idlers , shops with big signs and nothing to sell inside -- '' `` Well , then , '' said the minister , smiling , `` I think that at the next election Monsieur Felix Phellion will have every chance , and among those chances I count the influence of the government which is secured to him . '' There , my poor boy , is all that I have been able to do to reward your good intentions and to prove to you that I am no longer angry . I think the relations are going to pull a long face . Come and talk about it to-day at four o'clock , -- for I do n't dine after bedtime , as I saw some people doing last night in a house where I had occasion to mention your talents in a manner that was very advantageous to you . Madame Lambert , who does better with a saucepan than with pen and ink , shall distinguish herself , though it is Friday , and she never lets me off a fast day . But she has promised us a fish dinner worthy of an archbishop , with a fine half-bottle of champagne -LRB- doubled if need be -RRB- to wash it down . Your old professor and friend , Picot -LRB- Nepomucene -RRB- , Chevalier of the Legion of honor .