two o'clock
Madame clearly expected him , for his place was laid , and she ordered the déjeuner to be kept back over an hour in anticipation of his return . But he did not come . The afternoon wore on and he did not come . Madame sat down at two o'clock to déjeuner alone . She told the major-domo that M. le Marquis was detained in town and might not be home for some time . But the major-domo declared that Madame 's voice , as she told him this , sounded tearful and forced , and that she ate practically nothing , refusing one succulent dish after another . The staff of servants was thus kept on tenterhooks all day , and when the shadows of evening began to draw in , the theory was started in the kitchen that M. le Marquis had either met with an accident or been foully murdered .