twelve o'clock
`` Yes , yes , -- I know . '' M. d'Harville then drew down the blinds of the _ fiacre _ ; the coachman drove on , and soon arrived opposite the Hôtel d'Harville , from which point of observation it was impossible for any person to enter or quit the house without the marquis having a full view of them . One o'clock was the hour fixed in the note ; and with his eyes riveted on the entrance-gates of the mansion , the marquis waited in painful suspense , absorbed in a whirl of fearful thoughts and maddening conjectures . Time stole on imperceptibly ; twelve o'clock reverberated from the dome of St. Thomas Aquinas , when the door opened slowly at the Hôtel d'Harville , and Madame d'Harville herself came timidly forth . `` Already ? '' exclaimed the unhappy husband ; `` how punctual she is ! She fears to keep him waiting , '' cried the marquis , with a mixture of irony and savage rage .