three in the
afternoon
The first glass a little warmed and comforted his bosom ; with the second he began to look down upon these troubles from a sunny mountain ; yet a while , and filled with this false comfort and contemplating life through a golden medium , he owned to himself , with a flush , a smile , and a half-pleasurable sigh , that he had been somewhat over plain in dealing with his cousin . `` He said the truth , too , '' added the penitent librarian , `` for in my monkish fashion I adore the Princess . '' And then , with a still deepening flush and a certain stealth , although he sat all alone in that great gallery , he toasted Seraphina to the dregs . At a sufficiently late hour , or , to be more exact , at three in the afternoon , Madame von Rosen issued on the world . She swept downstairs and out across the garden , a black mantilla thrown over her head , and the long train of her black velvet dress ruthlessly sweeping in the dirt . At the other end of that long garden , and back to back with the villa of the Countess , stood the large mansion where the Prime Minister transacted his affairs and pleasures . This distance , which was enough for decency by the easy canons of Mittwalden , the Countess swiftly traversed , opened a little door with a key , mounted a flight of stairs , and entered unceremoniously into Gondremark 's study .