four o'clock
He had said he should be away six weeks . She had already counted forty-one long days , and Bathilde would not admit that there could be an instant 's delay ; thus the next day she watched her neighbor 's window constantly while studying the cantata . Carriages were rare in the Rue du Temps-Perdu , but it happened that three passed between ten and four ; each time she ran breathless to the window , and each time was disappointed . At four o'clock Buvat returned , and this time it was Bathilde who could not swallow a single morsel . The time to set out for Sceaux at length arrived , and Bathilde set out deploring the fate which prevented her following her watch through the night . When she arrived at Sceaux , however , the lights , the noise , the music , and above all the excitement of singing for the first time in public , made her -- for the time -- almost forget Raoul . Now and then the idea crossed her mind that he might return during her absence , and finding her window closed , would think her indifferent ; but then she remembered that Mademoiselle de Launay had promised her that she should be home before daylight , and she determined that Raoul should see her standing at her window directly he opened his -- then she would explain to him how she had been obliged to be absent that evening , she would allow him to suspect what she had suffered , and he would be so happy that he would forgive her .