ten o'clock
Believe me , Madame , of all your servants the most devoted . Paul de Virieu . They met in the garden -- the garden which they had so often had to themselves during their short happy mornings ; and , guided by an instinctive longing for solitude , and for being out of sight and out of mind of those about them , they made their way towards the arch in the wall which led to the _ potager _ . It was just ten o'clock , and the gardeners were leaving off work for an hour ; they had earned their rest , for their work begins each summer day at sunrise . It was therefore through a sweet-smelling , solitary wilderness that Count Paul guided his companion . They walked along the narrow paths edged with fragrant herbs till they came to the extreme end of the kitchen-garden , and then -- `` Shall we go into the orangery ? '' he asked abruptly .