four o’clock in the
afternoon
He looks solemn , he listens , ponders , and reflects ; his interlocutor thinks that after this consideration he has come round his man , till Palma says , ` This will not do for me . ' -- The most extraordinary thing about Palma , to my mind , is the fact that he and Werbrust were partners for ten years , and there was never the shadow of a disagreement between them . '' `` That is the way with the very strong or the very weak ; any two between the extremes fall out and lose no time in making enemies of each other , '' said Couture . `` Nucingen , you see , had neatly and skilfully put a little bombshell under the colonnades of the Bourse , and towards four o'clock in the afternoon it exploded . -- ` Here is something serious ; have you heard the news ? ' asked du Tillet , drawing Werbrust into a corner . ` Here is Nucingen gone off to Brussels , and his wife petitioning for a separation of her estate . '