three
o'clock
Suddenly there was a heavy , hurried step . The Nabob appeared , alone , buttoned into his black frock-coat , correctly gloved and cravatted , but with distorted features and haggard eye , still trembling from the terrible scene in which he had just taken part . She had refused to come . In the morning he had told Madame 's women to have her dressed at three o'clock , as he was accustomed to do whenever he took the Levantine abroad with him , for he found it necessary to impart motion to that indolent creature , who , being incapable of assuming any responsibility whatsoever , allowed others to think , to decide and to act for her , although she was quite willing to go wherever he chose , when she was once started . And he relied upon that willingness to enable him to take her to Hemerlingue 's house . But when , after breakfast , Jansoulet , fully dressed , magnificent , perspiring in his struggles to put on his gloves , sent to ask if Madame would soon be ready , he was told that Madame was not going out . It was a serious crisis , so serious that , discarding the mediation of valets and maids , through whom their conjugal interviews were usually conducted , he ran upstairs four stairs at a time , and entered the Levantine 's luxurious apartments like a gust of the mistral .