about four o'clock
Thereafter her hatred of the Jansoulets knew no bounds , a complicated , savage , seraglio hatred , with strangling and secret drowning at the end , an operation rather more difficult of performance in Paris than on the shores of the Lake of El-Baheira , but she was already preparing the bow-string and stout bag . That implacable hatred being well known and understood , we can imagine the surprise and excitement in that exotic corner of society , when it was reported that not only did the stout Afchin -- as those ladies called her -- consent to meet the baroness , but was to call first upon her on her next Saturday . You may be sure that neither the Fuernbergs nor the Trotts proposed to miss that occasion . The baroness for her part did all that she could to give the utmost possible publicity to that solemn act of reparation , wrote notes and made calls and played her cards so well that , notwithstanding the fact that the season was very far advanced , Madame Jansoulet , if she had arrived at the mansion in Faubourg Saint-Honoré about four o'clock , might have seen before the lofty arched gateway , beside the Princesse de Dions ' quiet livery of the color of dead leaves , and many genuine coats of arms , the showy , pretentious crests , the multi-colored wheels of a multitude of financiers ' equipages and the tall powdered lackeys of the Caraïscakis . Above , in the reception-rooms , there was the same strange and gorgeous medley . There was a constant going and coming over the carpets of the first two rooms , which were quite deserted , a rustling of silk dresses to and from the boudoir , where the baroness received , dividing her attentions and her cajoleries between the two very distinct camps ; on one side dark dresses , modest in appearance , whose richness was discernible to none but practised eyes , on the other a tumultuous springtime of bright colors , expansive waists , diamonds in profusion , floating sashes , styles for exportation , wherein one could detect a sort of regretful longing for a warmer climate and a luxurious , ostentatious life . Fans waving majestically here , discreet whispering there .