eight
o’clock
`` You have given him the good-will of a fine business for thirty thousand francs , which is certainly worth fifty thousand ; and in ten years he has only paid you ten thousand -- '' `` I never sued anybody yet , '' replied Beauvisage , `` and I 'd rather lose my money than torment a poor man -- '' `` A man who laughs at you ! '' Beauvisage was silent ; feeling unable to reply to that cruel remark , he looked at the boards which formed the floor of the salon . Perhaps the progressive abolition of mind and will in Beauvisage will be explained by the abuse of sleep . Going to bed every night at eight o'clock and getting up the next morning at eight , he had slept his twelve hours nightly for the last twenty years , never waking ; or if that extraordinary event did occur , it was so serious a matter to his mind that he talked of it all day . He spent an hour at his toilet , for his wife had trained him not to appear in her presence at breakfast unless properly shaved , cleaned , and dressed for the day . When he was in business , he departed to his office after breakfast and returned only in time for dinner . Since 1832 , he had substituted for his business occupations a daily visit to his father-in-law , a promenade about the town , or visits to his friends .