eight o'clock
If he had been asked at that minute -- if he had himself asked of his own mind -- what he meant to do -- to what future he was looking , whether he meant to marry La Lalli or to give her up , he would probably have repudiated either alternative with equal violence . His mind was in a state of chaos ; and what was to come in any future , except the most immediate one , he had become incapable of considering . Now he was going to see , to hear , to breathe the same atmosphere with her again , and to go through the wretched task of striving to behave as usual , and look as usual in the eyes of all Ravenna . The performance was to commence at half-past eight o'clock , and the Marchese , reaching the theatre nearly half-an-boar before that time , found Bianca sufficiently nearly dressed for him to be admitted to her dressing-room . She was putting the finishing touches to the platting of her magnificent hair , after the fashion of a Swiss village-girl , for the completion of her toilette as Amina . He thought that , in this new costume , she looked more irresistibly attractive than he had yet seen her . `` Bianca , '' he said , as soon as her dresser had left her , and shut the door , `` you have made me so miserable to-day .