noon
Each of these old dames looks as much like Horace 's Atra Cura as can well be conceived ; but , though there are seven of them , they will make your burden on horseback lighter instead of heavier . '' `` Are we to ride far ? '' asked the Count . `` A tolerable journey betwixt now and to-morrow noon , '' Kenyon replied ; `` for , at that hour , I purpose to be standing by the Pope 's statue in the great square of Perugia . '' Perugia , on its lofty hilltop , was reached by the two travellers before the sun had quite kissed away the early freshness of the morning . Since midnight , there had been a heavy , rain , bringing infinite refreshment to the scene of verdure and fertility amid which this ancient civilization stands ; insomuch that Kenyon loitered , when they came to the gray city wall , and was loath to give up the prospect of the sunny wilderness that lay below . It was as green as England , and bright as Italy alone .