about three
o’clock in the afternoon
`` No ; feel his bumps . '' `` Hm ! -- his stupidity might perhaps be contagious . '' The next day Rastignac dressed himself very elegantly , and about three o'clock in the afternoon went to call on Mme. de Restaud . On the way thither he indulged in the wild intoxicating dreams which fill a young head so full of delicious excitement . Young men at his age take no account of obstacles nor of dangers ; they see success in every direction ; imagination has free play , and turns their lives into a romance ; they are saddened or discouraged by the collapse of one of the visionary schemes that have no existence save in their heated fancy . If youth were not ignorant and timid , civilization would be impossible .