ten o'clock
precisely
It goes without saying that no one asked if the railway would have passengers or goods to carry , or if the proposed works should manufacture cotton nightcaps or distil whisky ; whether the mine was to be of virgin gold or of second-rate copper : certainly not . The conversation of M. Godefroy 's morning callers turned exclusively upon the profits which it would be possible to realize during the week which should follow the issue of the shares . They discussed particularly the values of the shares , which they knew would be destined before long to be worth less than the paper on which they were printed in fine style . These conversations , bristling with figures , lasted till ten o'clock precisely , and then the director of the _ Comptoir Général de Crédit _ , who , by the way , was an honest man -- at least , as honest as is to be found in business -- courteously conducted his last visitor to the head of the stairway . The visitor named was an old villain , as rich as Croesus , who , by a not uncommon chance , enjoyed the general esteem of the public ; whereas , had justice been done to him , he would have been lodging at the expense of the State in one of those large establishments provided by a thoughtful government for smaller delinquents ; and there he would have pursued a useful and healthy calling for a lengthy period , the exact length having been fixed by the judges of the supreme court . But M. Godefroy showed him out relentlessly , notwithstanding his importance -- it was absolutely necessary to be at the Bourse at 11 o'clock -- and went into the dining-room . It was a luxuriously furnished room .