a quarter to eight
_ . . He was now to speak , to unbosom himself , to tell that which weighed so heavily upon him ; and in his haste to unload his breast he cast a few half words as he went along to the loiterers on the Promenade . The day had been so hot , that in spite of the unusual hour -LRB- _ a quarter to eight _ on the clock of the town hall ! -RRB- and the terrifying darkness , quite a crowd of reckless persons , bourgeois families getting the good of the air while that of their houses evaporated , bands of five or six sewing-women , rambling along in an undulating line of chatter and laughter , were abroad . In every group they were talking of Tartarin . `` _ Et autrement _ , Monsieur Bézuquet , still no letter ? ''