nine o’clock
Besides , is not such indifference to dress as stamped Popinot an absent-minded man , a distinguishing mark of scientific attainment , of art passionately pursued , of a perpetually active mind ? To complete this portrait , it will be enough to add that Popinot was one of the few judges of the Court of the Seine on whom the ribbon of the Legion of Honor had not been conferred . Such was the man who had been instructed by the President of the Second Chamber of the Court -- to which Popinot had belonged since his reinstatement among the judges in civil law -- to examine the Marquis d'Espard at the request of his wife , who sued for a Commission in Lunacy . The Rue du Fouarre , where so many unhappy wretches swarmed in the early morning , would be deserted by nine o'clock , and as gloomy and squalid as ever . Bianchon put his horse to a trot in order to find his uncle in the midst of his business . It was not without a smile that he thought of the curious contrast the judge 's appearance would make in Madame d'Espard 's room ; but he promised himself that he would persuade him to dress in a way that should not be too ridiculous . `` If only my uncle happens to have a new coat ! ''