one o'clock
They were to go quietly to the mayor 's office and the church , just the six of them , without a whole procession of people trailing behind them . The bridegroom 's two sisters had even declared that they would stay home , their presence not being necessary . Coupeau 's mother , however , had sobbed and wailed , threatening to go ahead of them and hide herself in some corner of the church , until they had promised to take her along . The meeting of the guests was set for one o'clock at the Silver Windmill . From there , they would go to Saint-Denis , going out by railroad and returning on foot along the highway in order to work up an appetite . The party promised to be quite all right . Saturday morning , while getting dressed , Coupeau felt a qualm of uneasiness in view of the single franc in his pocket .