eleven o'clock in the morning
With her death the joy died out of his old age . It was one of those terrible shocks which reverberate through every moment of the years that follow . For a few moments he stood beside the bed where his wife lay , with her hands folded like a saint , then he kissed her on the forehead , turned away , drew out his watch , broke the mainspring , and hung it up beside the hearth . It was eleven o'clock in the morning . `` Mlle. d'Esgrignon , '' he said , `` let us pray God that this hour may not prove fatal yet again to our house . My uncle the archbishop was murdered at this hour ; at this hour also my father died -- '' He knelt down beside the bed and buried his face in the coverlet ; his sister did the same , in another moment they both rose to their feet . Mlle. d'Esgrignon burst into tears ; but the old Marquis looked with dry eyes at the child , round the room , and again on his dead wife .