four o’clock
Your prayers must be labors . From your labors must come the good of those above whom you are placed by fortune , by superiority of mind ; even this natural position of your dwelling is the image of your social situation . '' As he said the last words , the priest and Madame Graslin turned to walk back toward the plains , and the rector pointed both to the village at the foot of the hill , and to the chateau commanding the whole landscape . It was then half-past four o'clock ; a glow of yellow sunlight enveloped the balustrade and the gardens , illuminated the chateau , sparkled on the gilded railings of the roof , lighted the long plain cut in two by the high-road , -- a sad , gray ribbon , not bordered there by the fringe of trees which waved above it elsewhere on either side . When Veronique and Monsieur Bonnet had passed the main body of the chateau , they could see -- beyond the courtyard , the stables , and the offices -- the great forest of Montegnac , along which the yellow glow was gliding like a soft caress . Though this last gleam of the setting sun touched the tree-tops only , it enabled the eye to see distinctly the caprices of that marvellous tapestry which nature makes of a forest in autumn . The oaks were a mass of Florentine bronze , the walnuts and the chestnuts displayed their blue-green tones , the early trees were putting on their golden foliage , and all these varied colors were shaded with the gray of barren spots .