seven o'clock
Such in any case was the beginning , and this my introduction to the duties I had undertaken . They seemed simple enough , and especially so to one who was no novice at the administration of an estate . For my father , in his softer moments -- when , in fact , he had been brought to recognize that my vices were at least hereditary -- had initiated me into the working of a great landed holding . At seven o'clock we dined . Mademoiselle wore a white dress with a broad yellow ribbon round her girlish waist . Her sleeves -- I suppose it was the fashion of the period -- were wide and flowing , and her arms and hands were those of a child . Madame de Clericy , I remember , did not talk much , saying little more , indeed , than such polite words as her position of hostess rendered necessary .