midday
It was only a servant coming in . He noticed the incessant rumble of passing carriages , to which he had never before paid any attention . He could hear them , one after another , a long way off , coming nearer , passing his door without stopping , and bearing away into the distance a message which was not for him . He waited all night , to no purpose , for the Verdurins had returned unexpectedly , and Odette had been in Paris since midday ; it had not occurred to her to tell him ; not knowing what to do with herself she had spent the evening alone at a theatre , had long since gone home to bed , and was peacefully asleep . As a matter of fact , she had never given him a thought . And such moments as these , in which she forgot Swann 's very existence , were of more value to Odette , did more to attach him to her , than all her infidelities . For in this way Swann was kept in that state of painful agitation which had once before been effective in making his interest blossom into love , on the night when he had failed to find Odette at the Verdurins ' and had hunted for her all evening .