nine until six
She had come with the Marquis and Marquise de Morsigny , and after they had passed the long receiving line where the King in his simple worn uniform stood beside the resplendent ambassador , her friends ' attention had been diverted to a group of acquaintances chattering excitedly over the startling munificence that seemed to them prophetic of a swift renaissance . They moved off unconsciously , and Alexina remained alone near one of the long windows behind the receiving line ; but she felt secure in her insignificance and quite content to gaze uninterruptedly at the greatest function she had ever seen . After the bitter hard work , the long monotonies , the brief terrible excitements , of the past four years , and the depressed febrile atmosphere of Paris during the last year when avions dropped their bombs nearly every night , and Big Bertha struck terror to each quarter in turn , this gay and gorgeous scene recalled one 's most extravagant dreams of fairy-land and Arabia ; and Alexina felt like a very young girl . Even the almost constant sensation of fatigue , mental and bodily , fell from her as she forgot that she had worked from nine until six for three years in her oeuvre , often walking the miles to and from her hotel or pension to avoid the crowded trains ; the distasteful food ; the tremors that had shaken even her tempered soul when the flashing of the German guns , drawing ever nearer , could be seen at night on the horizon . And Paris had been so dark ! She reveled almost sensuously in the excessiveness of the contrast , quite unconcerned that her white gown was several years out of date . For that matter there were few gowns , in these vast rooms , of this year 's fashion .