the hour of two o’clock
There are men , truly noble , like Calyste , handsome as Calyste , rich , distinguished , and well-bred , who tire -- without their knowledge , possibly -- of marriage with a nature like their own ; beings whose own nobleness is not surprised or moved by nobleness in others ; whom grandeur and delicacy consonant with their own does not affect ; but who seek from inferior or fallen natures the seal of their own superiority -- if indeed they do not openly beg for praise . Calyste found nothing to protect in Sabine , she was irreproachable ; the powers thus stagnant in his heart were now to vibrate for Beatrix . If great men have played before our eyes the Saviour 's part toward the woman taken in adultery , why should ordinary men be wiser in their generation than they ? Calyste reached the hour of two o'clock living on one sentence only , `` I shall see her again ! '' -- a poem which has often paid the costs of a journey of two thousand miles . He now went with a light step to the rue de Chartres , and recognized the house at once although he had never before seen it . Once there , he stood -- he , the son-in-law of the Duc de Grandlieu , he , rich , noble as the Bourbons -- at the foot of the staircase , stopped short by the interrogation of the old footman : `` Monsieur 's name ? ''