ten in the evening
Mme. Derline got into the woe-begone brougham to drive straight to a very well-known carriage-maker , and that evening , cleverly seizing the psychological moment , she explained to M. Derline that she had seen a certain little black coupé lined with blue satin that would frame delightfully her new dresses . The coupé was bought the next day by M. Derline , who also was beginning fully to realize the extent of his new duties . But the next day it was discovered that it was impossible to harness to that jewel of a coupé the old horse who had pulled the old carriage , and no less impossible to put on the box the old coachman who drove the old horse . This is how on Thursday , April 25th , at half-past ten in the evening , a very pretty chestnut mare , driven by a very correct English coachman , took M. and Mme. Derline to the Palmer 's . They still lacked something -- a little groom to sit beside the English coachman . But a certain amount of discretion had to be employed . The most beautiful woman in Paris intended to wait ten days before asking for the little groom .