noon
Madame received him courteously . She was in a blithe and happy mood that morning -- the reaction from her yesterday 's distress of mind . The world was full of promise , and all things had prospered with her and Marius . Her boy was lord of Condillac ; Florimond , whom she had hated and who had stood in the way of her boy 's advancement , was dead and on his way to burial ; Garnache , the man from Paris who might have made trouble for them had he ridden home again with the tale of their resistance , was silenced for all time , and the carp in the moat would be feasting by now upon what was left of him ; Valerie de La Vauvraye was in a dejected frame of mind that augured well for the success of the Dowager 's plans concerning her , and by noon at latest there would be priests at Condillac , and , if Marius still wished to marry the obstinate baggage , there would be no difficulty as to that . It was a glorious morning , mild and sunny as an April day , as though Nature took a hand in the Dowager 's triumph and wished to make the best of its wintry garb in honour of it . The presence of this gross suitor of hers afforded her another source of satisfaction . There would no longer be the necessity she once had dreaded of listening to his suit for longer than it should be her pleasure to be amused by him .