noon
She was ashamed . Ah , now at last she would give ungrudgingly . Her feet should not falter , nor her eyes be dimmed by any shadow of fear or of regret , though she went by perilous ways to an almost certain end . Soon after noon she got up and prepared to face the world again , and towards three o'clock she returned to the Villa Medici . She had to ring the porter 's bell as the garden gate was shut , and the old man came grumblingly as usual . `` Monsieur Michelin will see no one . Did he not tell you so this morning ? ''