ten o'clock
Sometimes , when Gervaise seemed to have too much to do , Madame Goujet helped her do the dishes , or cleaned the kitchen herself . Goujet took her water pails every morning and filled them at the tap on Rue des Poissonniers , saving her two sous a day . After dinner , if no family came to visit , the Goujets would come over to visit with the Coupeaus . Until ten o'clock , the blacksmith would smoke his pipe and watch Gervaise busy with her invalid . He would not speak ten words the entire evening . He was moved to pity by the sight of her pouring Coupeau 's tea and medicine into a cup , or stirring the sugar in it very carefully so as to make no sound with the spoon . It stirred him deeply when she would lean over Coupeau and speak in her soft voice .