nine o’clock
`` Five years ! Just five years this month , since his old aunt , now dead , that excellent Madame de Maulincour , asked for the hand of that little crocodile of a woman , who has finally ruined him -- as I expected . '' And the gouty old gentleman , leaning on his cane , went to walk in the little garden till his guest should awake . At nine o'clock supper was served , for Mathias took supper . The old man was not a little astonished , when Paul joined him , to see that his old client 's brow was calm and his face serene , though noticeably changed . If at the age of thirty-three the Comte de Manerville seemed to be a man of forty , that change in his appearance was due solely to mental shocks ; physically , he was well . He clasped the old man 's hand affectionately , and forced him not to rise , saying : -- `` Dear , kind Maitre Mathias , you , too , have had your troubles . ''