eight o’clock
That delicate attention on Christine 's part , that fresh and fragrant lilac , affected him greatly , as if presaging a happy day . Still in his nightshirt , with his feet bare , he placed the flowers in his water-jug on the table . Then , with his eyes still swollen with sleep , almost bewildered , he dressed , scolding himself the while for having slept so long . On the previous night he had promised Dubuche and Sandoz to call for them at the latter 's place at eight o'clock , in order that they might all three go together to the Palais de l'Industrie , where they would find the rest of the band . And he was already an hour behind time . Then , as luck would have it , he could not lay his hands upon anything in his studio , which had been turned topsy-turvy since the despatch of the big picture . For more than five minutes he hunted on his knees for his shoes , among a quantity of old chases .