ten
o'clock
Men sometimes called in the evening with their wives . This had been the programme which Mrs. Pontellier had religiously followed since her marriage , six years before . Certain evenings during the week she and her husband attended the opera or sometimes the play . Mr. Pontellier left his home in the mornings between nine and ten o'clock , and rarely returned before half-past six or seven in the evening -- dinner being served at half-past seven . He and his wife seated themselves at table one Tuesday evening , a few weeks after their return from Grand Isle . They were alone together . The boys were being put to bed ; the patter of their bare , escaping feet could be heard occasionally , as well as the pursuing voice of the quadroon , lifted in mild protest and entreaty .