about five o'clock
The Countess consented , and , having thanked Bertin , went out into the street with her daughter . They walked for some time in silence , enjoying the sweet realization of presents received ; then they began to talk of all the jewels they had seen and handled . Within their minds still lingered a sort of glittering and jingling , an echo of gaiety . They walked quickly through the crowd which fills the street about five o'clock on a summer evening . Men turned to look at Annette , and murmured in distinct words of admiration as they passed . It was the first time since her mourning , since black attire had added brilliancy to her daughter 's beauty , that the Countess had gone out with her in the streets of Paris ; and the sensation of that street success , that awakened attention , those whispered compliments , that little wake of flattering emotion which the passing of a pretty woman leaves in a crowd of men , contracted her heart little by little with the same painful feeling she had had the other evening in her drawing-room , when her guests had compared the little one with her own portrait . In spite of herself , she watched for those glances that Annette attracted ; she felt them coming from a distance , pass over her own face without stopping and suddenly settle upon the fair face beside her own .