Ten o'clock
He wished his wife to go in , as it was really becoming too cold . For his own part , taking Lucien in his arms , he carried him into the house , covering him with kisses the while . Both windows of the bedroom were wide open , and in the depths below the house , which was perched on the very summit of the hill , lay Paris , rolling away in a mighty flat expanse . Ten o'clock struck ; the lovely February morning had all the sweetness and perfume of spring . Helene reclined in an invalid chair , reading in front of one of the windows , her knee still in bandages . She suffered no pain ; but she had been confined to her room for a week past , unable even to take up her customary needlework . Not knowing what to do , she had opened a book which she had found on the table -- she , who indulged in little or no reading at any time .