noon
And he studied his speech , till he could repeat whole paragraphs by heart , paying particular attention to the pronunciation of the difficult names , taking lessons from his most cultured friends . `` It is for appearance 's sake , '' he said naïvely . `` It is because I do n't want people to poke fun at me , even if I am only a painter . '' The day of the reception he had luncheon long before noon . He scarcely touched the food ; this ceremony , which he had never seen , made him rather worried . To his anxiety was added the irritation he always felt when he had to attend to the care of his person . His long years of married life had accustomed him to neglect all the trivial , everyday needs of life .