quarter to twelve
At last she was ushered into a smaller room , into the presence of a pompous individual , wearing the insignia of the Legion of Honor , Monsieur le Commissaire in person , who was sipping his ` cafe au lait ' and reading the ` Gazette des Tribunaux . ' `` Ah ! it 's you , is it ? '' he said in a surly tone and without raising his eyes from his paper , as he dipped a piece of bread in his cup ; and the officer who had brought Desiree began at once to read his report : `` At quarter to twelve , on Quai de la Megisserie , in front of No. 17 , the woman Delobelle , twenty-four years old , flower-maker , living with her parents on Rue de Braque , tried to commit suicide by throwing herself into the Seine , and was taken out safe and sound by Sieur Parcheminet , sand-hauler of Rue de la Butte-Chaumont . '' Monsieur le Commissaire listened as he ate , with the listless , bored expression of a man whom nothing can surprise ; at the end he gazed sternly and with a pompous affectation of virtue at the woman Delobelle , and lectured her in the most approved fashion . It was very wicked , it was cowardly , this thing that she had done . What could have driven her to such an evil act ?