three o'clock
asked old Astrardente , with a leer . `` That is different , '' answered Corona , quietly . So they talked upon the subject of the gown and the ball until the carriage rolled under the archway of the Astrardente palace . But when it was three o'clock , and Corona was at liberty to go out upon her usual round of visits , she was glad that she could go alone ; and as she sat among her cushions , driving from house to house and distributing cards , she had time to think seriously of her situation . It would seem a light thing to most wives of aged husbands to have taken a fancy to a man such as Giovanni Saracinesca . But the more Corona thought of it , the more certain it appeared to her that she was committing a great sin . It weighed heavily upon her mind , and took from her the innocent pleasure she was wont to feel in driving in the bright evening air in the Villa Borghese .