three o’clock
`` I understood then , '' she said afterwards to the rector , `` that our souls must be ploughed and cultivated like the soil itself . '' The vast expanse before her was lighted by a pale November sun . Already a few gray clouds chased by a chilly wind were hurrying from the west . It was then three o'clock . Veronique had taken more than four hours to reach the summit , but , like all others who are harrowed by an inward misery , she paid no heed to external circumstances . At this moment her being was actually growing and magnifying with the sublime impetus of Nature itself . `` Do not stay here any longer , madame , '' said a man , whose voice made her quiver , `` or you will soon be unable to return ; you are six miles from any dwelling , and the forest is impassable at night .