four o'clock
One day , towards the end of November , he was working with even greater distaste than usual . Finally , in exasperation , he flapped the music to , shut the piano , and went out . A stroll along the muddy little railed-in river brought him to the PLEISSENBURG , and from there he crossed the KONIGSPLATZ to the BRUDERSTRASSE . He had not come out with the intention of going to Louise , but , although it was barely four o'clock , the afternoon was drawing in ; an interminable evening had to be got through . He had been walking at haphazard , and without relish ; now his pace grew brisker . Having reached the house , he sprang nimbly up the stairs , and was about to insert his key in the little door in the wall , when he was arrested by a muffled sound of voices . Louise was talking to some one , and , at the noise he made outside , she raised her voice -- purposely , no doubt .