midday
Just then the Angelus was ringing at Blangy , and the sounds of the bell , mingling with the wild concert of the forest , gave harmony to the silence . Here and there were rising vapors , white , diaphanous . Seeing these lovely preparations of Nature , the fancy had seized Olympe Michaud to accompany her husband , who had to give an order to a keeper whose house was not far off . The Soulanges doctor advised her to walk as long as she could do so without fatigue ; she was afraid of the midday heat and went out only in the early morning or evening . Michaud now took her with him , and they were followed by the dog he loved best , -- a handsome greyhound , mouse-colored with white spots , greedy , like all greyhounds , and as full of vices as most animals who know they are loved and petted . So , then the tilbury reached the pavilion of the Rendezvous , the countess , who stopped to ask how Madame Michaud felt , was told she had gone into the forest with her husband . `` Such weather inspires everybody , '' said Blondet , turning his horse at hazard into one of the six avenues of the forest ; `` Joseph , you know the woods , do n't you ? ''