eleven o'clock in the morning
This female , lovely in person as depraved in mind , as fascinating as dangerous , had reached Paris the preceding evening , and had received the most minute instructions from Baron de Graün . The reader will recollect that in the last interview between Rodolph and Madame Pipelet , the latter having very cleverly managed to propose Cecily to Madame Séraphin , as a servant to the notary in place of Louise Morel , her proposition had been so well received that the _ femme de charge _ had promised to speak to Jacques Ferrand on the subject ; and this she had done , in terms most flattering to Cecily , the very morning of the day on which she -LRB- Madame Séraphin -RRB- had been drowned at the Isle du Ravageur . The motive for Rodolph 's visit was , therefore , to inquire the result of Cecily 's introduction . To his great astonishment , he found , on entering the lodge , that although eleven o'clock in the morning had struck by all the neighbouring dials , Pipelet had not yet risen , while Anastasie was standing beside his bed , offering him some sort of drink . As Alfred , whose forehead and eyes were entirely concealed beneath his huge cotton nightcap , did not reply to his wife 's inquiries , she concluded he slept , and therefore closed the curtains of his bed . Turning around , she perceived Rodolph , and , as usual , gave him a military salute , by lifting the back of her left hand up to her wig . `` Ah , my king of lodgers !