about ten o'clock at night
At two periods of the day Marthe , with great effort and for professional purposes , achieved some degree of personal tidiness . The first period began at about four o'clock in the afternoon . By six o'clock or six-thirty she had slipped back into the sloven . The second period began at about ten o'clock at night . It was more brilliant while it lasted , but owing to the accentuation of Marthe 's characteristics by fatigue it seldom lasted more than an hour . When Marthe opened the door to G.J. she was at her proudest , intensely conscious of being clean and neat , and unwilling to stand any nonsense from anybody . Of course she was polite to G.J. as the chief friend of the establishment and a giver of good tips , but she deprecated calls by gentlemen in the evening , for unless they were made by appointment the risk of complications at once arose .