11 o'clock
They discussed particularly the values of the shares , which they knew would be destined before long to be worth less than the paper on which they were printed in fine style . These conversations , bristling with figures , lasted till ten o'clock precisely , and then the director of the _ Comptoir Général de Crédit _ , who , by the way , was an honest man -- at least , as honest as is to be found in business -- courteously conducted his last visitor to the head of the stairway . The visitor named was an old villain , as rich as Croesus , who , by a not uncommon chance , enjoyed the general esteem of the public ; whereas , had justice been done to him , he would have been lodging at the expense of the State in one of those large establishments provided by a thoughtful government for smaller delinquents ; and there he would have pursued a useful and healthy calling for a lengthy period , the exact length having been fixed by the judges of the supreme court . But M. Godefroy showed him out relentlessly , notwithstanding his importance -- it was absolutely necessary to be at the Bourse at 11 o'clock -- and went into the dining-room . It was a luxuriously furnished room . The furniture and plate would have served to endow a cathedral . Nevertheless , notwithstanding that M. Godefroy took a gulp of bicarbonate of soda , his indigestion refused to subside , consequently the banker could only take the scantiest breakfast -- that of a dyspeptic .