Midnight
On these nights Goujet would be overcome by the heat from the stove and the odor of linen steaming under the hot irons . He would drift into a sort of giddiness , his thinking slowed and his eyes obsessed by these hurrying women as their naked arms moved back and forth , working far into the night to have the neighborhood 's best clothes ready for Sunday . Everything around the laundry was slumbering , settled into sleep for the night . Midnight rang , then one o'clock , then two o'clock . There were no vehicles or pedestrians . In the dark and deserted street , only their shop door let out any light . Once in a while , footsteps would be heard and a man would pass the shop .