about eight in the
evening
I then got out of the chaise in good earnest , and seeing a house about a quarter of a mile to the left hand , with a great deal to do I prevailed upon the postilion to turn up to it . The look of the house , and of everything about it , as we drew nearer , soon reconciled me to the disaster . It was a little farmhouse surrounded with about twenty acres of vineyard , about as much corn , and close to the house on one side was a potagerie of an acre and a half , full of everything which could make plenty in a French peasant 's house , and on the other side was a little wood which furnished wherewithal to dress it . It was about eight in the evening when I got to the house , so I left the postilion to manage his point as he could , and for mine I walked directly into the house . The family consisted of an old gray-headed man and his wife , with five or six sons and sons-in-laws , and their several wives , and a joyous genealogy out of them . They were all sitting down together to their lentil soup . A large wheaten loaf was in the middle of the table , and a flagon of wine at each end of it promised joy through the stages of the repast -- 't was a feast of love .