eight o'clock
When the colloquy comes to an end , he advances , touches his cap for a salute , awkward and timid suddenly in presence of this Dolores , whose harsh look under the veil he divines . This woman is the only person in the world who has the power to chill him , and , never elsewhere than in her presence , he feels weighing upon him the blemish of being the child of an unknown father , of wearing no other name than that of his mother . To-day , however , to his great surprise , she is more cordial than usual , and she says with a voice almost amiable : `` Good-morning , my boy ! '' Then he goes to Gracieuse , to ask her with a brusque anxiety : `` To-night , at eight o'clock , say if you will be on the square to dance with me ? '' For some time , every Sunday had brought to him the same fear of being deprived of dancing with her in the evening . In the week he hardly ever saw her . Now that he was becoming a man , the only occasion for him to have her company was this ball on the green of the square , in the light of the stars or of the moon .