eight o’clock
He pretended not to see them , doubtless afraid of giving way to his emotion . In an unnaturally loud voice he spoke of the final preparations for Clotilde 's departure , like a man who had a great deal on his hands and was afraid that the train might be missed . He had corded the trunks , a man had taken them away in a little wagon , and they would find them at the station . But it was only eight o'clock , and they had still two long hours before them . Two hours of mortal anguish , spent in unoccupied and weary waiting , during which they tasted a hundred times over the bitterness of parting . The breakfast took hardly a quarter of an hour . Then they got up , to sit down again .