one o'clock
She paid her bill ; it seemed very moderate considering how good her lunch had been , and then slowly made her way out of the Villa du Lac , down across the stone-flagged courtyard to the gate , and so into the sanded road . Crossing over , she began walking by the edge of the lake ; and once more loneliness fell upon her . The happy-looking people who passed her laughing and talking together , and the more silent couples who floated by on the water in the quaint miniature sailing boats with which the surface of the lake was now dotted , were none of them alone . Suddenly the old parish church of Lacville chimed out the hour -- it was only one o'clock -- amazingly early still ! Someone coming across the road lifted his hat . Could it be to her ? Yes , for it was the young man who had shared with her , for a time , the large dining-room of the Villa du Lac .