noon
These incidents turned his thought from his ambitious dreams ; he betook himself to his work , but his thought wandered back to Father Goriot 's suspicious occupation ; Mme. de Restaud 's face swam again and again before his eyes like a vision of a brilliant future ; and at last he lay down and slept with clenched fists . When a young man makes up his mind that he will work all night , the chances are that seven times out of ten he will sleep till morning . Such vigils do not begin before we are turned twenty . The next morning Paris was wrapped in one of the dense fogs that throw the most punctual people out in their calculations as to the time ; even the most business-like folk fail to keep their appointments in such weather , and ordinary mortals wake up at noon and fancy it is eight o'clock . On this morning it was half-past nine , and Mme. Vauquer still lay abed . Christophe was late , Sylvie was late , but the two sat comfortably taking their coffee as usual . It was Sylvie 's custom to take the cream off the milk destined for the boarders ' breakfast for her own , and to boil the remainder for some time , so that madame should not discover this illegal exaction .