two o’clock in the morning
I commended my soul and the vindication of my memory to God . I said to myself that if Edmee died I should find her again in a better world ; that if she survived me and recovered her reason , she would one day succeed in discovering the truth , and that then I should live in her heart as a dear and tender memory . Irritable as I am , and always inclined to violence in the case of anything that is an obstacle or an offence to me , I am astonished at the philosophical resignation and the proud calm I have shown on the momentous occasions of life , and above all on this one . It was two o'clock in the morning . The case had lasted for fourteen hours . A silence as of death reigned over the court , which was as full and as attentive as at the beginning , so fond are mortals of anything in the nature of a show . That offered by the criminal court at this moment was somewhat dismal .