eight o’clock
He had taken his place beside Mlle. Taillefer , and stayed through the dessert , giving his neighbor an expressive glance from time to time . A few of the boarders discussed the walnuts at the table , and others walked about the room , still taking part in the conversation which had begun among them . People usually went when they chose ; the amount of time that they lingered being determined by the amount of interest that the conversation possessed for them , or by the difficulty of the process of digestion . In winter-time the room was seldom empty before eight o'clock , when the four women had it all to themselves , and made up for the silence previously imposed upon them by the preponderating masculine element . This evening Vautrin had noticed Eugene 's abstractedness , and stayed in the room , though he had seemed to be in a hurry to finish his dinner and go . All through the talk afterwards he had kept out of the sight of the law student , who quite believed that Vautrin had left the room . He now took up his position cunningly in the sitting-room instead of going when the last boarders went .