eight o’clock
He found himself wanting to handle his fellow visitor in a sense other than the professional . Mr. Probert talked very little to Francie , but though Mr. Flack did n't know that on a first occasion he would have thought this aggressive , even rather brutal , he knew it was for Francie , and Francie alone , that the fifth member of the party was there . He said to himself suddenly and in perfect sincerity that it was a mean class anyway , the people for whom their own country was n't good enough . He did n't go so far , however , when they were seated at the admirable establishment of M. Durand in the Place de la Madeleine , as to order a bad dinner to spite his competitor ; nor did he , to spoil this gentleman 's amusement , take uncomfortable seats at the pretty circus in the Champs Elysees to which , at half-past eight o'clock , the company was conveyed -- it was a drive of but five minutes -- in a couple of cabs . The occasion therefore was superficially smooth , and he could see that the sense of being disagreeable to an American newspaper-man was not needed to make his nondescript rival enjoy it . That gentleman did indeed hate his crude accent and vulgar laugh and above all the lamblike submission to him of their friends . Mr. Flack was acute enough for an important observation : he cherished it and promised himself to bring it to the notice of his clinging charges .