about three o'clock in the
afternoon
Mdlle . de Cardoville is yet ignorant of the sad end of her young relatives . Her countenance is radiant with happiness , and never has she looked more beautiful ; her eye has never been more brilliant , her complexion more dazzling white , her lip of a richer coral . According to her somewhat eccentric custom of dressing herself in her own house in a picturesque style , Adrienne wears to-day , though it is about three o'clock in the afternoon , a pale green watered-silk dress , with a very full skirt , the sleeves and bodice slashed with rose-colored ribbon , and adorned with white bugle-beads , of exquisite workmanship ; while a slender network , also of white bugle-beads , concealing the thick plait of Adrienne 's back hair , forms an oriental head-dress of charming originality , and contrasts agreeably with the long curls which fall in front almost to the swell of the bosom . To the expression of indescribable happiness which marks the features of Mdlle . de Cardoville , is added a certain resolute , cutting , satirical air , which is not habitual to her . Her charming head , and graceful , swan-like neck , are raised in an attitude of defiance ; her small , rose-colored nostrils seem to dilate with ill-repressed ardor , and she waits with haughty impatience for the moment of an aggressive and ironical interview .