Les Misérables, page 175
CHAPTER VII--RULE: RECEIVE NO ONE EXCEPT IN THE EVENING
Such was M. Luc-Esprit Gillenormand, who had not lost his hair,--whichwas gray rather than white,--and which was always dressed in "dog'sears." To sum up, he was venerable in spite of all this.
He had something of the eighteenth century about him; frivolous andgreat.
In 1814 and during the early years of the Restoration, M. Gillenormand,who was still young,--he was only seventy-four,--lived in the FaubourgSaint Germain, Rue Servandoni, near Saint-Sulpice. He had only retiredto the Marais when he quitted society, long after attaining the age ofeighty.
And, on abandoning society, he had immured himself in his habits. Theprincipal one, and that which was invariable, was to keep his doorabsolutely closed during the day, and never to receive any one whateverexcept in the evening. He dined at five o'clock, and after that his doorwas open. That had been the fashion of his century, and he would notswerve from it. "The day is vulgar," said he, "and deserves only aclosed shutter. Fashionable people only light up their minds when thezenith lights up its stars." And he barricaded himself against everyone, even had it been the king himself. This was the antiquated eleganceof his day.
