five in the morning
But for that money he had certainly acquired ideas that would never had come to him in Nemours ; he had stripped off the provincial skin , learned the power of money and seen in the magistracy a means of advancement which he fancied . During the last year he had spent an extra sum of ten thousand francs in the company of artists , journalists , and their mistresses . A confidential and rather disquieting letter from his son , asking for his consent to a marriage , explains the watch which the post master was now keeping on the bridge ; for Madame Minoret-Levrault , busy in preparing a sumptuous breakfast to celebrate the triumphal return of the licentiate , had sent her husband to the mail road , advising him to take a horse and ride out if he saw nothing of the diligence . The coach which was conveying the precious son usually arrived at five in the morning and it was now nine ! What could be the meaning of such delay ? Was the coach overturned ? Could Desire be dead ?