the 15th of August,
about eleven o’clock at night
Aramis was the first to descend from the carriage ; he held the door open for the young man . He saw him place his foot on the mossy ground with a trembling of the whole body , and walk round the carriage with an unsteady and almost tottering step . It seemed as if the poor prisoner was unaccustomed to walk on God 's earth . It was the 15th of August , about eleven o'clock at night ; thick clouds , portending a tempest , overspread the heavens , and shrouded every light and prospect underneath their heavy folds . The extremities of the avenues were imperceptibly detached from the copse , by a lighter shadow of opaque gray , which , upon closer examination , became visible in the midst of the obscurity . But the fragrance which ascended from the grass , fresher and more penetrating than that which exhaled from the trees around him ; the warm and balmy air which enveloped him for the first time for many years past ; the ineffable enjoyment of liberty in an open country , spoke to the prince in so seductive a language , that notwithstanding the preternatural caution , we would almost say dissimulation of his character , of which we have tried to give an idea , he could not restrain his emotion , and breathed a sigh of ecstasy . Then , by degrees , he raised his aching head and inhaled the softly scented air , as it was wafted in gentle gusts to his uplifted face .