eight o’clock
After breakfast , about eleven o'clock , Jean-Jacques went to walk ; talked with the people he met , and came home at three in the afternoon to read the papers , -- those of the department , and a journal from Paris which he received three days after publication , well greased by the thirty hands through which it came , browned by the snuffy noses that had pored over it , and soiled by the various tables on which it had lain . The old bachelor thus got through the day until it was time for dinner ; over that meal he spent as much time as it was possible to give to it . Flore told him the news of the town , repeating the cackle that was current , which she had carefully picked up . Towards eight o'clock the lights were put out . Going to bed early is a saving of fire and candles very commonly practised in the provinces , which contributes no doubt to the empty-mindedness of the inhabitants . Too much sleep dulls and weakens the brain . Such was the life of these two persons during a period of nine years , the great events of which were a few journeys to Bourges , Vierzon , Chateauroux , or somewhat further , if the notaries of those towns and Monsieur Heron had no investments ready for acceptance .