eight o’clock
`` Well , you will be obliged to sleep here to-night , my boy , '' I said , turning to Gaspard . `` That is , unless the roads are free in a couple of hours -- which is quite possible . '' He looked at me without answering , his face quite pale ; and I saw him look at Veronique with an expression of anguish . It was half-past eight o'clock . It was still daylight -- a pale , sad light beneath the blanched sky . The servants had had the forethought to bring up two lamps with them . I had them lighted , thinking that they would brighten up the somber room .