noon
This was undoubtedly the happiest period of their love . The workroom had pleasant memories of the past , and they spent whole days there , wrapped luxuriously in the joy of having lived so long in it together . Then , out of doors , in every corner of La Souleiade , royal summer had set up his blue tent , dazzling with gold . In the morning , in the embalsamed walks on the pine grove ; at noon under the dark shadow of the plane trees , lulled by the murmur of the fountain ; in the evening on the cool terrace , or in the still warm threshing yard bathed in the faint blue radiance of the first stars , they lived with rapture their straitened life , their only ambition to live always together , indifferent to all else . The earth was theirs , with all its riches , its pomps , and its dominions , since they loved each other . Toward the end of August however , matters grew bad again . At times they had rude awakenings , in the midst of this life without ties , without duties , without work ; this life which was so sweet , but which it would be impossible , hurtful , they knew , to lead always .