noon
During August Doctor Deberle 's garden was like a well of foliage . The railings were hidden both by the twining branches of the lilac and laburnum trees and by the climbing plants , ivy , honeysuckle , and clematis , which sprouted everywhere in luxuriance , and glided and intermingled in inextricable confusion , drooping down in leafy canopies , and running along the walls till they reached the elms at the far end , where the verdure was so profuse that you might have thought a tent were stretched between the trees , the elms serving as its giant props . The garden was so small that the least shadow seemed to cover it . At noon the sun threw a disc of yellow light on the centre , illumining the lawn and its two flower-beds . Against the garden steps was a huge rose-bush , laden with hundreds of large tea-roses . In the evening when the heat subsided their perfume became more penetrating , and the air under the elms grew heavy with their warm breath . Nothing could exceed the charm of this hidden , balmy nook , into which no neighborly inquisition could peep , and which brought one a dream of the forest primeval , albeit barrel-organs were playing polkas in the Rue Vineuse , near by .