ten o'clock
Groping in the dark , he cut a nosegay with the stout sailor 's knife that he always wore in his belt , and paring off all the thorns , he placed it in Gaud 's bosom . `` You look like a bride now , '' said he , stepping back to judge of the effect , notwithstanding the deepening dusk . At their feet the calm sea rose and fell over the shingle with an intermittent swash , regular as the breathing of a sleeper ; for it seemed indifferent or ever favourable to the love-making going on hard by . In expectation of these evenings the days appeared long to them , and when they bade each other good-bye at ten o'clock , they felt a kind of discouragement , because it was all so soon over . They had to hurry with the official documents for fear of not being ready in time , and of letting their happiness slip by until the autumn , or even uncertainty . Their evening courtship in that mournful spot , lulled by the continual even wash of the sea , with that feverish impression of the flight of time , was almost gloomy and ominous . They were like no lovers ; more serious and restless were they in their love than the common run .