noon
I thought constantly of his approaching arrival ; I was so overjoyed , and I anticipated with so keen a delight the change his coming would make in my life , that I did not feel a particle of the melancholy which usually beset me in the autumn . I meant to consult him about a thousand troublous matters , to confide to him all my anguish and uncertainty in regard to the future ; I knew also that my parents depended upon him to give them definite advice about me , and expected him to direct me towards a scientific career : that was the one dark spot upon his return . Awaiting his dread decision , I threw aside all care and amused myself as gayly as possible ; I put even less restraint than usual upon myself during the vacation which I regarded as likely to be the very last of my childhood . After the noon dinner it was the custom in my uncle 's house to sit for an hour or two in the entry-way of the house , that vestibule inlaid with flagstones and ornamented with a large , burnished , copper fountain , for it was the coolest place during the heated period of the day . Here it was almost dark , for everything was closed ; two or three rays of sunshine , in whose light the flies danced , filtered in through the cracks of the massive Louis XIII door . In the silent village no one was astir , and one heard there only the everlasting clucking of the hens , -- all other living creatures seemed asleep . I , however , did not remain long in the cool vestibule .