eight o'clock
Absalom , in black and shining pumps posed , superior , here and there where the lights set off his grandeur . And Grandemont rested in his chair , waiting for his guests . He must have drifted into a dream -- and an extravagant one -- for he was master of Charleroi and Adèle was his wife . She was coming out to him now ; he could hear her steps ; he could feel her hand upon his shoulder -- '' _ Pardon moi , M'shi Grande _ '' -- it was Absalom 's hand touching him , it was Absalom 's voice , speaking the _ patois _ of the blacks -- `` but it is eight o'clock . '' Eight o'clock . Grandemont sprang up . In the moonlight he could see the row of hitching-posts outside the gate .