twelve o'clock
If my mother could give me satisfactory security that all my days would prove as quiet and happy as this has been , I would enter into bonds never to quit the confines of Le Bocage again . Ah ! the indescribable relief of feeling that nothing was expected of me ; that the galling gyves of hospitality and etiquette were snapped , and that I was entirely free from all danger of intrusion . This day shall be marked with a white stone ; for I entered my rooms at twelve o'clock , and remained there in uninterrupted peace till five minutes ago ; when I put on my social shackles once more , and hobbled down to entertain my fair guest . '' Edna was arranging some sheets of music that were scattered on the piano ; but as he mentioned the hour of his return , she remembered that the clock struck one just as she went into the sitting-room where he kept his books and cabinets ; and she knew now that he was at that very time in the inner room , beyond the arch . She put her hand to her forehead , and endeavored to recollect the appearance of the apartment . The silk curtains , she was sure , were hanging over the arch ; for she remembered distinctly having noticed a large and very beautiful golden butterfly which had fluttered in from the terrace , and was flitting over the glowing folds that fell from the carved intrados to the marble floor .