noon
Ysoude is dead ; and I love my young French wife as thoroughly as Palomides did , with as great a passion as was possible to either of us oldsters . Well ! all life is a compromise ; I compromise with tradition by loving her unselfishly , by loving her with the very best that remains in John Bulmer . `` And yet , I wish -- `` True , I may be hanged at noon to-morrow , which would somewhat disconcert my plan . I shall not bother about that . Always there remains the chance that , somehow , Gaston may arrive in time : otherwise -- why , otherwise I shall be hanged , and as to what will happen afterward I decline to enter into any discussion even with myself . I have my belief , but it is bolstered by no iota of knowledge .