ten o'clock
`` My romance -- whatever it may be ! '' `` Whatever it may be ! And now for that breath of air we promised ourselves ! It 's close on ten o'clock . '' So the meal ended ; coats were found , candles blown out , and a last proprietary inspection of the _ appartement _ made by the aid of matches . They ran down the long , smooth staircase , and , stepping into the quiet , starlit rue Müller , linked arms and began their descent upon Paris with as much ease , as nice a familiarity as though life for both of them had been passed in the shadow of the Sacré-Coeur . On the Boulevard de Clichy the usual confusion of lights and humanity greeted them like welcoming arms , and with the same agreeable nonchalance they yielded to the embrace .