about ten o’clock
These two were only happy under given circumstances ; he -- with her , she -- when unseen by anyone she could flit like a ghost to the precipice to lose herself in the under-growth , or when she drove over the Volga to see the pope 's wife . The weather was gloomy . Rain fell unintermittently , the sky was enshrouded in a thick cloud of fog , and on the ground lay banks of mist . No one had ventured out all day , and the family had already gone early to bed , when about ten o'clock the rain ceased , Raisky put on his overcoat to get a breath of air in the garden . The rustle of the bushes and the plants from which the rain was still dripping , alone broke the stillness of the night . After a few turns up and down he turned his steps to the vegetable garden , through which his way to the fields lay . Here and there a glimmering star hung above in the dense darkness , and before him the village lay like a dark spot on the dark background of the indistinguishable fields beyond .