about eight o'clock in the evening
She hardly spoke to me , and the only sound that passed her lips was a quaint little lullaby which she sang to M. le Vicomte ere he dropped off to sleep . The hours went by leaden-footed . At every sound on the stairs Madame started like a frightened bird . That infamous Laporte usually paid his visits at about eight o'clock in the evening , and after it became quite dark , Madame sat at the tiny window , and I felt that she was counting the minutes which still lay between her and the dreaded presence of that awful man . At a quarter before eight o'clock we heard the usual heavy footfall on the stairs . Madame started up as if she had been struck . She ran to the bed -- almost like one demented , and wrapping the one poor blanket round M. le Vicomte , she seized him in her arms .