Sunday at noon
Four weeks ago they had been married in Lyons , which was their home ; but where they had passed these four weeks they really could not have told you . The time had gone hop skip-and-jump ; a couple of days had entirely slipped out of their reckoning , and , on the other hand , they remembered a little summer-house at Fontainebleau , where they had rested one evening , as clearly as if they had passed half their lives there . Paris was , strictly speaking , the goal of their wedding journey , and there they established themselves in a comfortable little _ hôtel garni _ . But the city was sultry and they could not rest ; so they rambled about among the small towns in the neighborhood , and found themselves , one Sunday at noon , in Saint-Germain . `` Monsieur and Madame have doubtless come to take part in the fête ? '' said the plump little landlady of the Hôtel Henri Quatre , as she ushered her guests up the steps . The fête ?