a quarter to
eight in the morning
I do n't know if they were good , but they were big , and with their elaborate , tarnished gilt-frames had a melancholy dignity . The man himself sat at a shining , inlaid writing table which looked like a rare piece from a museum of art ; his chair had a high , oval , carved back , upholstered in faded tapestry ; and these objects made of the costly black Havana cigar , which he rolled incessantly from the middle to the left corner of his mouth and back again , an inexpressibly cheap and nasty object . I had to see him several times in the interest of a poor devil so unlucky that he did n't even have a more competent friend than myself to speak for him at a very difficult time in his life . I do n't know at what hour my private financier began his day , but he used to give one appointments at unheard of times : such as a quarter to eight in the morning , for instance . On arriving one found him busy at that marvellous writing table , looking very fresh and alert , exhaling a faint fragrance of scented soap and with the cigar already well alight . You may believe that I entered on my mission with many unpleasant forebodings ; but there was in that fat , admirably washed , little man such a profound contempt for mankind that it amounted to a species of good nature ; which , unlike the milk of genuine kindness , was never in danger of turning sour . Then , once , during a pause in business , while we were waiting for the production of a document for which he had sent -LRB- perhaps to the cellar ? -RRB-