ten
in the morning
She turned her head slowly , and their eyes met in that long gaze with which they were accustomed to sound one another prudently before venturing once for all . After the breakfast it was the guests ' custom to betake themselves to a little flower garden on a terrace overlooking the plain . This Sunday afternoon was exquisitely mild . There had been signs of rain toward ten in the morning , but the sky , without ceasing to be covered , had , as it were , melted into milky fog , which now hung like a cloud of luminous dust in the golden sunlight . Soon Mme Hugon proposed that they should step down through a little doorway below the terrace and take a walk on foot in the direction of Gumieres and as far as the Choue . She was fond of walking and , considering her threescore years , was very active . Besides , all her guests declared that there was no need to drive .