four o’clock in the morning
Who could this man be whom she so fondly loved and preferred before all others ? He respected her too much not to feel assured that her choice was a worthy one , but his experience had taught him that when so many men of the world fell into strange entanglements , a poor girl without knowledge of the dangers around her might easily be entrapped . `` If he is worthy of her , '' thought he , `` I will do my best to aid her ; but if not , I will open her eyes . '' At four o'clock in the morning he was still seated musing before the expiring embers of his fire ; he had made up his mind to see Andre -- there was no difficulty in this , for a man of taste and wealth can find a ready excuse for visiting the studio of a struggling artist . He had no fixed plan as to what he would say or do , he left all to chance , and with this decision he went to bed , and by two in the afternoon he drove straight to the Rue de la Tour d'Auvergne . Andre 's discreet portress was as usual leaning on her broom in the gallery as M. de Breulh 's magnificent equipage drew up . `` Gracious me ! ''