two o’clock in the afternoon
For our part we consent , is it not so ? And it is to that man 's advantage to consent also . To-morrow the matter must be settled . '' On the following day , Monday , at two o'clock in the afternoon , Mathieu set out for the mill . But certain complications , a tragic drama , which he could not possibly foresee , awaited him there . For years now a stubborn struggle had been going on between Lepailleur and his wife with respect to Antonin . While the farmer had grown more and more exasperated with his son 's idleness and life of low debauchery in Paris , the latter had supported her boy with all the obstinacy of an illiterate woman , who was possessed of a blind faith in his fine handwriting , and felt convinced that if he did not succeed in life it was simply because he was refused the money necessary for that purpose .