Five minutes to ten
It seems a trifle when one is busy , but when one has nothing to do it is quite another thing . The pavement is slippery , rain is beginning to fall -- fortunately the Palais Royal is not far off . At the end of his fourteenth tour round the arcades , Monsieur looks at his watch . Five minutes to ten , he will be late . He rushes home . In the courtyard the carriage is standing waiting . In the bedroom two unshaded lamps shed floods of light .