eight o'clock
The advocate Collard -- of Nantes , -- who was pointed out as the future head of the Cabinet , was one of his intimate friends . It was suggested -- positively -- that Sulpice should be intrusted with one of the most _ important portfolios _ , that of the Interior or of Foreign Affairs , the _ lesser portfolios _ being considered those of Public Instruction and of Agriculture and Commerce , the former of which concerns itself with the spiritual welfare of the people , and the latter with their food supply . Sulpice told all this to Adrienne while eating his dinner mechanically and without appetite . There was to be a meeting of his coterie at eight o'clock . It was already seven . He hurried . Adrienne saw that he was very pale .