three
o'clock
Instead of that , it was probably Malipieri whom she was to marry , the one of all others whom she had chosen for herself , and in place of a dreary existence , stretching out through endless blank years in the future , she saw a valley of light , carpeted with roses , opening suddenly in the wilderness to receive her and the man she loved . It was no wonder that she smiled in her sleep as she lay resting in the warm afternoon , in her own room . Her mother had made her lie down , partly because she was still tired , and partly because it would be convenient that she should be out of the way if Malipieri came . He came , as the Princess had expected , and between two and three o'clock , an hour at which he was almost sure to find her at home . From what Sabina had said to the Baroness in his presence , and from his judgment of the girl 's character , he felt certain that she would tell her mother the whole story at once . As they had acknowledged to each other in the vaults , they were neither of them good at inventing falsehoods , and Sabina would surely tell the truth . In the extremely improbable case that she had not been obliged to say anything about the events of the night , his visit would not seem at all out of place .