five o’clock
`` And if you should ever need some one who would gladly set a match to a train for you -- '' `` Well ? '' she asked . He tapped his heart , smiled in answer to his cousin 's smile , and went . It was five o'clock , and Eugene was hungry ; he was afraid lest he should not be in time for dinner , a misgiving which made him feel that it was pleasant to be borne so quickly across Paris . This sensation of physical comfort left his mind free to grapple with the thoughts that assailed him . A mortification usually sends a young man of his age into a furious rage ; he shakes his fist at society , and vows vengeance when his belief in himself is shaken . Just then Rastignac was overwhelmed by the words , `` You have shut the Countess ' door against you . ''