noon
His nails were well kept , his beard trimmed , the smallest details of his dress attended to with English precision . Hence Amedee de Soulas was looked upon as the finest man in Besancon . A hairdresser who waited upon him at a fixed hour -- another luxury , costing sixty francs a year -- held him up as the sovereign authority in matters of fashion and elegance . Amedee slept late , dressed and went out towards noon , to go to one of his farms and practise pistol-shooting . He attached as much importance to this exercise as Lord Byron did in his later days . Then , at three o'clock he came home , admired on horseback by the grisettes and the ladies who happened to be at their windows . After an affectation of study or business , which seemed to engage him till four , he dressed to dine out , spent the evening in the drawing-rooms of the aristocracy of Besancon playing whist , and went home to bed at eleven .