midnight
At least he thought it was his minor cleric Garrigou , for , as you may know , that night the devil himself took on the round face and bland features of the young sacristan , in order to tempt the reverend father into the terrible sin of gluttony . So , as the _ so-called _ Garrigou was swinging his arms to ring the seigneurial chapel 's bells , the reverend managed to put his chasuble back on in the small chateau sacristy , and with a spirit already troubled by gastronomic anticipation , he excited it even more as he dressed himself , by going over the menu , -- Roast turkeys ... golden carp ... trout as fat as your arm ... . Outside the night-wind blew and broadcasted the music of the bells , as the lights began to appear on the dark side of Mount Ventoux , surmounted by the old towers of the Trinquelage . Tenant farmers ' families were walking to hear midnight mass at the chateau . They sang as they climbed the hillside in small groups , the fathers in the lead , holding the lantern , their wives , wrapped up against the wind in large , brown mantles , which also acted as a shelter for the children when they snuggled up . Despite the dark and the cold , all these brave folk walked on joyfully , sustained by the thought that , just like every other year , after the mass , there would be a table stocked up for them in the kitchen downstairs . During the hard climb , a lord 's coach , with its leading torch-bearers , and its windows shimmering in the moonlight , occasionally went by .