eight o’clock
I would n't have her at any price ; neither would I like to be in the count 's red skin , minister of State and peer of France as he is . He has a small mind , and I do n't care a fig for him now . '' Oscar listened with true pleasure to these slurs on the count , for they diminished , in a way , the importance of his fault ; and he echoed the spiteful language of the ex-notary , who amused himself by predicting the blows to the nobility of which the bourgeoisie were already dreaming , -- blows which were destined to become a reality in 1830 . At half-past three the solid eating of the feast began ; the dessert did not appear till eight o'clock , -- each course having taken two hours to serve . None but clerks can eat like that ! The stomachs of eighteen and twenty are inexplicable to the medical art . The wines were worthy of Borrel , who in those days had superseded the illustrious Balaine , the creator of the first restaurant for delicate and perfectly prepared food in Paris , -- that is to say , the whole world .