morning, noon
She is a wilful , hot-tempered little thing , but the Blounts for generations have been famed for a strain of honor toward friend and foe that runs in their blood , and is dear to them as their lives . Therefore he knows her word will be as sacred to her as her bond . To Stephen just at this time the world is a howling wilderness ; there is no sun anywhere , and every spring is dry . He has fallen into the habit of coming very seldom to the Court , where he used to be morning , noon , and night , ever since his unlucky engagement ; indeed , no one in the house or out of it has seen him since the day before yesterday . Sitting at home , brooding over his wrongs , with a short and well-blackened pipe in his mouth , he is giving himself up a victim to despair and rage . That he can still love her with even , it seems to him , a deeper intensity than before , is the bitterest drop in his cup . It was all so sudden , so unexpected .