nine to ten in the
morning
They were always saying unkind things to each other , and Frau von Kerich only laughed at them . Jean-Christophe , who never got the better in such passages of words , used sometimes to issue from them so infuriated that he thought he detested Minna ; and he persuaded himself that he only went to her house again because of Frau von Kerich . He went on giving her music lessons . Twice a week , from nine to ten in the morning , he superintended the girl 's scales and exercises . The room in which they did this was Minna 's studio -- an odd workroom , which , with an amusing fidelity , reflected the singular disorder of her little feminine mind . On the table were little figures of musical cats -- a whole orchestra -- one playing a violin , another the violoncello -- a little pocket-mirror , toilet things and writing things , tidily arranged . On the shelves were tiny busts of musicians -- Beethoven frowning , Wagner with his velvet cap , and the Apollo Belvedere .