five o’clock in the
afternoon
She knew that in such circumstances an alarm , imprudently given , might be fatal to his credit , and the wise Constance sacrificed her own anxiety to her husband 's commercial reputation : she waited silently through the night , mingling her prayers and terrors . Was Cesar dead ? Had he left Paris on the scent of some last hope ? The next morning she behaved as though she knew the reasons for his absence ; but at five o'clock in the afternoon when Cesar had not returned , she sent for her uncle and begged him to go at once to the Morgue . During the whole of that day the courageous creature sat behind her counter , her daughter embroidering beside her . When Pillerault returned , Cesar was with him ; on his way back the old man had met him in the Palais-Royal , hesitating before the entrance to a gambling-house . This was the 14th .