eight o'clock
Gourville and the Abbe Fouquet talked over money matters -- that is to say , the abbe borrowed a few pistoles from Gourville ; Pellisson , seated with his legs crossed , was engaged in finishing the peroration of a speech with which Fouquet was to open the parliament ; and this speech was a master-piece , because Pellisson wrote it for his friend -- that is to say , he inserted everything in it which the latter would most certainly never have taken the trouble to say of his own accord . Presently Loret and La Fontaine would enter from the garden , engaged in a dispute upon the facility of making verses . The painters and musicians in their turn , also , were hovering near the dining-room . As soon as eight o'clock struck , the supper would be announced , for the surintendant never kept any one waiting . It was already half-past seven , and the appetites of the guests were beginning to be declared in a very emphatic manner . As soon as all the guests were assembled Gourville went straight up to Pellisson , awoke him out of his reverie , and led him into the middle of a room , and closed the doors . `` Well , '' he said , `` anything new ? ''