six o'clock
All the efforts that were employed to influence him were also employed with me ; but to yield to the women was not in my thoughts . We are now approaching , however , the first important incident in this narrative . The darkness increased as the afternoon came on ; and it became a kind of thick twilight , no lighter than many a night . It was between five and six o'clock , just the time when our streets are the most crowded , when , sitting at my window , from which I kept a watch upon the Grande Rue , not knowing what might happen -- I saw that some fresh incident had taken place . Very dimly through the darkness I perceived a crowd , which increased every moment , in front of the Cathedral . After watching it for a few minutes , I got my hat and went out . The people whom I saw -- so many that they covered the whole middle of the _ Place _ , reaching almost to the pavement on the other side -- had their heads all turned towards the Cathedral .