three in the afternoon
Madame Chebe would smile softly without replying . Accustomed as she was to all her husband 's whims , she had made herself as comfortable as possible in a back room with an outlook upon a dark yard , consoling herself with reflections on the former prosperity of her parents and her daughter 's wealth ; and , being always neatly dressed , she had succeeded already in acquiring the respect of neighbors and tradesmen . She asked nothing more than not to be confounded with the wives of workingmen , often less poor than herself , and to be allowed to retain , in spite of everything , a petty bourgeois superiority . That was her constant thought ; and so the back room in which she lived , and where it was dark at three in the afternoon , was resplendent with order and cleanliness . During the day the bed became a couch , an old shawl did duty as a tablecloth , the fireplace , hidden by a screen , served as a pantry , and the meals were cooked in modest retirement on a stove no larger than a foot-warmer . A tranquil life -- that was the dream of the poor woman , who was continually tormented by the whims of an uncongenial companion . In the early days of his tenancy , M. Chebe had caused these words to be inscribed in letters a foot long on the fresh paint of his shop-front : COMMISSION -- EXPORTATION No specifications .