eight o’clock
I am going now to the ministry , but I shall come back with my neck free of the yoke . '' Celestine clasped her husband in her arms with a force men do not possess , even in their passionate moments ; for women are stronger through emotion than men through power . She wept and laughed and sobbed in turns . When Rabourdin left the house at eight o'clock , the porter gave him the satirical cards suggested by Bixiou . Nevertheless , he went to the ministry , where he found Sebastien waiting near the door to entreat him not to enter any of the bureaus , because an infamous caricature of him was making the round of the offices . `` If you wish to soften the pain of my downfall , '' he said to the lad , `` bring me that drawing ; I am now taking my resignation to Ernest de la Briere myself , that it may not be altered or distorted while passing through the routine channels . I have my own reasons for wishing to see that caricature . ''