seven o’clock
The night was moonless , but studded with such pure and such glowing stars that the country could be seen spreading far away beneath a soft bluish radiance . Already at twenty minutes past eleven Marianne found herself on the little bridge crossing the Yeuse , midway between Chantebled , the pavilion where she and her husband lived , and the station of Janville . The children were fast asleep ; she had left them in the charge of Zoe , the servant , who sat knitting beside a lamp , the light of which could be seen from afar , showing like a bright spark amid the black line of the woods . Whenever Mathieu returned home by the seven o'clock train , as was his wont , Marianne came to meet him at the bridge . Occasionally she brought her two eldest boys , the twins , with her , though their little legs moved but slowly on the return journey when , in retracing their steps , a thousand yards or more , they had to climb a rather steep hillside . And that evening , late though the hour was , Marianne had yielded to that pleasant habit of hers , enjoying the delight of thus going forward through the lovely night to meet the man she worshipped . She never went further than the bridge which arched over the narrow river .