a quarter past seven
And at intervals , so high up as to defy inspection , engravings and oil-paintings made oblong patches on the walls . They were hung from immense nails with porcelain heads , and they appeared to depict the more majestic aspect of man and nature . One engraving , over the mantelpiece and nearer earth than the rest , unmistakably showed Louis Philippe and his family in attitudes of virtue . Beneath this royal group , a vast gilt clock , flanked by pendants of the same period , gave the right time -- a quarter past seven . And down the room , filling it , ran the great white table , bordered with bowed heads and the backs of chairs . There were over thirty people at the table , and the peculiarly restrained noisiness of their knives and forks on the plates proved that they were a discreet and a correct people . Their clothes -- blouses , bodices , and jackets -- did not flatter the lust of the eye .