six o’clock
So , about eight months after the arrival of the doctor these four players of whist and backgammon made a solid and exclusive little world which was to each a fraternal aftermath , an unlooked for fine season , the gentle pleasures of which were the more enjoyed . This little circle of choice spirits closed round Ursula , a child whom each adopted according to his individual tendencies ; the abbe thought of her soul , the judge imagined himself her guardian , the soldier intended to be her teacher , and as for Minoret , he was father , mother , and physician , all in one . After he became acclimated old Minoret settled into certain habits of life , under fixed rules , after the manner of the provinces . On Ursula 's account he received no visitors in the morning , and never gave dinners , but his friends were at liberty to come to his house at six o'clock and stay till midnight . The first-comers found the newspapers on the table and read them while awaiting the rest ; or they sometimes sallied forth to meet the doctor if he were out for a walk . This tranquil life was not a mere necessity of old age , it was the wise and careful scheme of a man of the world to keep his happiness untroubled by the curiosity of his heirs and the gossip of a little town . He yielded nothing to that capricious goddess , public opinion , whose tyranny -LRB- one of the present great evils of France -RRB- was just beginning to establish its power and to make the whole nation a mere province .