three o'clock before
_ '' And he withdrew his head into the first-class compartment . Then I turned away , wondering how next to act . After a stroll around Monty , a cigarette on the terrace before the Casino , where the gay world was sunning itself beside the sapphire sea , prior to the opening of the Rooms , and a cocktail at my friend Ciro 's , I took my _ déjeuner _ at the Palmiers , a small and unpretentious hotel in the back of the town , where I was well known , and where one gets a very good lunch _ vin compris _ for three francs . In order to allow Pierrette time to rest after her journey , I waited till three o'clock before I got out the car and ran over to Beaulieu . The day was glorious , one of those bright , cloudless , sunny Riviera days in early spring , when the Mediterranean lay without a ripple and the flowers sent forth their perfume everywhere . Mademoiselle was in the garden , the concierge of the Bristol told me ; therefore I went out and found her seated alone before the sea , reading a book . Her appearance was the reverse of that of a religious `` Sister . ''