ten o'clock
The pair were laughing and talking and in great spirits . They wore Bengal roses in their button-holes . Altogether , it was a theatrical surprise which words fail to describe . At ten o'clock the court had decided to dismiss the charge , stating their very sufficient reasons for setting the Count at liberty , in a document which contained a thunderbolt for du Croisier , in the shape of an / inasmuch / that gave the Count the right to institute proceedings for libel . Old Chesnel was walking up the Grand Rue , as if by accident , telling all who cared to hear him that du Croisier had set the most shameful of snares for the d'Esgrignons ' honor , and that it was entirely owing to the forbearance and magnanimity of the family that he was not prosecuted for slander . On the evening of that famous day , after the Marquis d'Esgrignon had gone to bed , the Count , Mlle. Armande , and the Chevalier were left with the handsome young page , now about to return to Paris . The charming cavalier 's sex could not be hidden from the Chevalier , and he alone , besides the three officials and Mme. Camusot , knew that the Duchess had been among them .