ten o'clock
He sat down in the darkest corner and remained there without stirring , as if dazed . Instinctively , although the appointed hour was still distant , he looked among the people who were hurrying along , calling to one another , to see if he could not discern that graceful figure suddenly emerging from the crowd and thrusting it aside at every step with the radiance of her beauty . After many departures and arrivals and shrill whistles , the station suddenly became empty , as deserted as a church on weekdays . The time for the ten o'clock train was drawing near . There was no other train before that . Frantz rose . In a quarter of an hour , half an hour at the least , she would be there .