eight o’clock
If Estelle alarmed you , you might have stayed at Moisselles . However , the thing is done , and there is no use talking about it . Adieu ; I shall see you soon . Your devoted servant and friend , Moreau At eight o'clock that evening , Madame Clapart , just returned from a walk she had taken with her husband , was knitting winter socks for Oscar , by the light of a single candle . Monsieur Clapart was expecting a friend named Poiret , who often came in to play dominoes , for never did he allow himself to spend an evening at a cafe . In spite of the prudent economy to which his small means forced him , Clapart would not have answered for his temperance amid a luxury of food and in presence of the usual guests of a cafe whose inquisitive observation would have piqued him . `` I 'm afraid Poiret came while we were out , '' said Clapart to his wife .