five o’clock
in the evening
To you I can make the admission : there is nothing to be done . '' `` But what if there is ? '' `` I would give half the blood in my veins that it were so , '' said she , finishing her sentence by a wistful shake of the head . As the First Consul , beaten on the field of Marengo till five o'clock in the evening , by six o'clock saw the tide of battle turned by Desaix 's desperate attack and Kellermann 's terrific charge , so Chesnel in the midst of defeat saw the beginnings of victory . No one but a Chesnel , an old notary , an ex-steward of the manor , old Maitre Sorbier 's junior clerk , in the sudden flash of lucidity which comes with despair , could rise thus , high as a Napoleon , nay , higher . This was not Marengo , it was Waterloo , and the Prussians had come up ; Chesnel saw this , and was determined to beat them off the field . `` Madame , '' he said , `` remember that I have been your man of business for twenty years ; remember that if the d'Esgrignons mean the honor of the province , you represent the honor of the bourgeoisie ; it rests with you , and you alone , to save the ancient house .