eleven o'clock at
night
The chevalier shrugged his shoulders as he stood before the glass , began to laugh , and to wonder at the impression which he had received . He attributed it to the preoccupation of his mind , to the strange and solitary situation , to everything , in fact , except its true cause -- the sovereign and irresistible power of distinction and beauty . D'Harmental went down to his hostess disposed to find the Demoiselles Denis charming . Madame Denis did not think it proper that two young persons as innocent as her daughters should breakfast with a young man who , although he had been only three days in Paris , already came in at eleven o'clock at night , and played on the harpsichord till two in the morning . In vain the Abbe Brigaud affirmed that this double infraction of the rules of her house should in no degree lower her opinion of his pupil , for whom he could answer as for himself . All he could obtain was that the young ladies should appear at the dessert ; but the chevalier soon perceived that if their mother had ordered them not to be seen , she had not forbidden them to be heard , for scarcely were they at table , round a veritable devotée 's breakfast , composed of a multitude of little dishes , tempting to the eye and delicious to the palate , when the sounds of a spinet were heard , accompanying a voice which was not wanting in compass , but whose frequent errors of intonation showed lamentable inexperience . At the first notes Madame Denis placed her hand on the abbe 's arm , then , after an instant 's silence , during which she listened with a pleased smile to that music which made the chevalier 's flesh creep , `` Do you hear ? ''