three o'clock
I may as well eat , and then wait in what patience I can , another hour or two -- yes , it will be two hours . I will give her two hours -- for she will be obliged to serve others before me . Well , well , patience is my penance . '' But in truth he expected the letter to be in advance of three o'clock . `` Twenty words will answer me , '' he thought ; `` yes , ten words ; and she will find or make the time to write them ; '' and between this hope and the certainty of three o'clock , he worried the minutes away until three struck . Then there was a knock at his door and he went hastily to answer it . Balthazar stood there with the longed-for letter in his hand .