Four o'clock in the afternoon
It was a daily torment for both of them . They would never have broken free if chance had not come to break the cruel indecision , against which they were struggling , in a way that seemed unfortunate -- but it was really fortunate . It was a Sunday in October . Four o'clock in the afternoon . The weather was brilliant . Christophe had stayed in his room all day , chewing the cud of melancholy . He could bear it no longer ; he wanted desperately to go out , to walk , to expend his energy , to tire himself out , so as to stop thinking .