Rule: Receive No One Except in the Evening — Les Misérables

Such was Luc-Esprit Gillenormand, who had not lost his hair, which was grey rather than white, and which was always dressed in dog's ears. To sum up, he was venerable in spite of all this. He had something of the eighteenth century about him: frivolous and great. The hair was dressed. The mouth had not retired. The century sat on the head as if it were still the present.

In 1814 and during the early years of the Restoration he was still young. He was only seventy-four. He lived in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, Rue Servandoni, near Saint-Sulpice. He had only retired to the Marais when he quitted society, long after attaining the age of eighty. Society was abandoned. The habits were not.

And on abandoning society he had immured himself in his habits. The principal one, and that which was invariable, was to keep his door absolutely closed during the day, and never to receive anyone whatever except in the evening. He dined at five o'clock, and after that his door was open. That had been the fashion of his century, and he would not swerve from it. The day is vulgar, said he, and deserves only a closed shutter. Fashionable people only light up their minds when the zenith lights up its stars. And he barricaded himself against everyone, even had it been the king himself. This was the antiquated elegance of his day. The shutter stayed shut until the stars came out.