three o'clock
Vanno 's `` surprise '' for Mary was a beautiful piece of land which he wanted to buy for her , in order to have a home where they might come sometimes , and spend a few weeks alone together in the country where they had first met and loved each other . The ground that he had set his heart upon was close to the curé 's garden , and it belonged to Achille Gonzales . Already , at Vanno 's request , the curé had interviewed both Achille and the older Gonzales . An appointment had been made for three o'clock , and the curé was to have introduced the two rich peasants , father and son , to the Prince ; but owing to the procession which Vanno and Mary had seen , he was not able to keep his engagement . And rather strangely , Mary 's host had been prevented by much the same reason , from accepting Vanno 's invitation to meet him `` on the land '' a little later . He too had a funeral service that day , but a very different funeral , and one which oppressed `` St. George '' Winter with a peculiar sadness . Death , as a rule , did not seem sad to him ; but he had a horror of the habit of gambling , which appeared to his eyes like an incubus on a man 's life , a dead albatross hung round the neck to rot .