midday
The sitting of the court was suspended . A counsellor having remarked that the gentlemen were fatigued , and that it would be a long time to wait until the torture was at an end , the president replied that a magistrate must know how to sacrifice himself to his duty . `` What an annoying and vexatious hussy , '' said an aged judge , `` to get herself put to the question when one has not supped ! '' After ascending and descending several steps in the corridors , which were so dark that they were lighted by lamps at midday , La Esmeralda , still surrounded by her lugubrious escort , was thrust by the police into a gloomy chamber . This chamber , circular in form , occupied the ground floor of one of those great towers , which , even in our own century , still pierce through the layer of modern edifices with which modern Paris has covered ancient Paris . There were no windows to this cellar ; no other opening than the entrance , which was low , and closed by an enormous iron door . Nevertheless , light was not lacking ; a furnace had been constructed in the thickness of the wall ; a large fire was lighted there , which filled the vault with its crimson reflections and deprived a miserable candle , which stood in one corner , of all radiance .