midday
`` To wit : the power of always being master of himself ; of profiting more or less , under all circumstances , by every event , however fortuitous ; in short , of having within himself a cold and disinterested other self , who looks on as a spectator at all the changes of life , noting our passions and our sentiments , and whispering to us in every case the judgment of a sort of moral ready-reckoner . '' `` That explains why a statesman is so rare a thing in France , '' said old Lord Dudley . `` From a sentimental point of view , this is horrible , '' the Minister went on . `` Hence , when such a phenomenon is seen in a young man -- Richelieu , who , when warned overnight by a letter of Concini 's peril , slept till midday , when his benefactor was killed at ten o'clock -- or say Pitt , or Napoleon , he was a monster . I became such a monster at a very early age , thanks to a woman . '' `` I fancied , '' said Madame de Montcornet with a smile , `` that more politicians were undone by us than we could make . '' `` The monster of which I speak is a monster just because he withstands you , '' replied de Marsay , with a little ironical bow .