About
eleven o'clock
In the daytime we make hunting excursions ; he visits his `` god-children '' and my estates : you may rely upon it , I have got an active steward in _ him _ ! In the evening we receive our friends at the château -- the vicar , the Morands , father and son , and , twice a week , the notary . We play whist at penny points , and very lively games of piquet -- only the latter not so often , as my uncle cheats at it . About eleven o'clock the carriages are got ready to take these people home . I then accompany my uncle to his room , and we talk over business matters , and about my _ fiancée _ ; for , of course , my marriage with his `` god-daughter '' is an understood thing , and we have not even a notion of discussing the question . Finally , when he gets sleepy , he goes to bed , and I go off to El-Nouzha . Besides these occupations we have another very serious one , namely , rummaging among the mass of curios which he heaped up together in the lumber-room of the château .