three o'clock
For a fortnight this had been her idea , to crush the Lorilleuxs , who were never known to ask a friend to their table ; who , on the contrary , locked their doors when they had anything special to eat . Gervaise wanted to give her a lesson and would have liked to offer the strangers who passed her door a seat at her table . Money was a very good thing and mighty pretty to look at , but it was good for nothing but to spend . Mamma Coupeau and Gervaise began to lay their table at three o'clock . They had hung curtains before the windows , but as the day was warm the door into the street was open . The two women did not put on a plate or salt spoon without the avowed intention of worrying the Lorilleuxs . They had given them seats where the table could be seen to the best advantage , and they placed before them the real china plates .