noon
She was showing an alarming tendency to lean on him at a time when he was examining with some concern his own supports . She possessed intelligence and fascination , she was a woman whose attentions would have flattered and disturbed any man with a spark of virility , and Hodder had constantly before his eyes the spectacle of others paying her court . Here were danger-signals again ! Mrs. Plaice , a middle-aged English lady staying in the house , never appeared until noon . Breakfast was set out in the tiled and sheltered loggia , where they were fanned by the cool airs of a softly breathing ocean . The world , on these mornings , had a sparkling unreality , the cold , cobalt sea stretching to sun-lit isles , and beyond , the vividly painted shore , -- the setting of luxury had never been so complete . And the woman who sat opposite him seemed , like one of her own nectarines , to be the fruit that crowned it all .