two o'clock
Every morning , from eight o'clock to twelve , is devoted to work ; governesses from Madame Montier 's come to continue her course of lessons ; then from one to two she practises on the piano . Her curious mind , with its mixture of ardent imagination and youthful intelligence , is really producing a wonderful intellectual structure upon its original foundation of native belief and superstitions . I am often quite surprised by hearing her display , on the subject of our social contradictions , an amount of observation and a grasp of view which would do credit to a philosopher . After two o'clock she dresses , and takes a walk or a ride , or makes calls with her friends , the Montague girls ; for in spite of all my excellent intentions , their intimacy has only increased since they were all emancipated from the restraints of school life . Kondjé-Gul being now under her mother 's protection , the most regular position she could have in the world , it would have been difficult indeed to find a pretext for breaking it off . Moreover , I had come to the conclusion that , owing to my having been introduced to the commodore 's family by my uncle , there could be no danger in these encounters with Kondjé-Gul at their house . It was by Maud and Suzannah that I had been presented to their fair foreign companion , and who would suspect it was not at Madame de Villeneuve 's party that I had first spoken to her ?