nine o'clock
He had seen her with Michael in the morning in the summer-house from a corner of the garden , too , where he was having a heated argument with the gardener in chief , as well as when he met them on the causeway bridge . He felt it his duty to do something to smooth matters , but what he could not decide . Perhaps she would tell him about it on the morrow , when he met her as was his custom on days that were not saints ' days interfered with by mass . `` I shall be at the gate at nine o'clock , _ ma fille _ , '' he said , when he wished her good-day . `` With your permission , we must decide about the clematis trellis for the north wall without delay . '' Henry accompanied the old man on his walk back to the village -- and they conversed in cultivated and stilted French of philosophy and of Breton fisher-folk , and of the strange , melancholy type they seemed to have . `` They look ever out to sea , '' the priest said ; `` they are watching the deep waters and are conscious forever of their own and loved ones ' dangers -- they are _ de braves gens _ . ''