about six o’clock
Then he lashed his perspiring jades afresh , but indifferent to their jolting , running up against things here and there , not caring if he did , demoralised , and almost weeping with thirst , fatigue , and depression . And on the harbour , in the midst of the drays and casks , and in the streets , at the corners , the good folk opened large wonder-stricken eyes at this sight , so extraordinary in the provinces , a cab with blinds drawn , and which appeared thus constantly shut more closely than a tomb , and tossing about like a vessel . Once in the middle of the day , in the open country , just as the sun beat most fiercely against the old plated lanterns , a bared hand passed beneath the small blinds of yellow canvas , and threw out some scraps of paper that scattered in the wind , and farther off lighted like white butterflies on a field of red clover all in bloom . At about six o'clock the carriage stopped in a back street of the Beauvoisine Quarter , and a woman got out , who walked with her veil down , and without turning her head . On reaching the inn , Madame Bovary was surprised not to see the diligence . Hivert , who had waited for her fifty-three minutes , had at last started . Yet nothing forced her to go ; but she had given her word that she would return that same evening .