twenty minutes past three
And noticing the unsteady characters , the breaks in the words , she felt a chill at her heart . He was ill , very ill -- she had become certain of this now , by a divination in which there was less of reasoning than of subtle prescience . And the rest of the journey seemed terribly long , for her anguish increased in proportion as she approached its termination . And worse than all , arriving at Marseilles at half-past twelve , there was no train for Plassans until twenty minutes past three . Three long hours of waiting ! She breakfasted at the buffet in the railway station , eating hurriedly , as if she was afraid of missing this train ; then she dragged herself into the dusty garden , going from bench to bench in the pale , mild sunshine , among omnibuses and hackney coaches . At last she was once more in the train , which stopped at every little way station .