Noon
The hours flew by like minutes . The sun came up high in the heavens , but nobody seemed tired ; nobody stopped , -- dance , dance , whirl , whirl , song and laughter and ceaseless motion . That was all that was to be seen or heard in this wonderful Court to which the Little Sweetheart had been brought . Noon came , but nothing stopped . Nobody left off dancing , and the musicians played faster than ever . And so it was all the long afternoon and through the twilight ; and as soon as it was really dark , all the rooms and the gardens and the lakes blazed out with millions of lamps , till it was lighter far than day ; and the ladies ' dresses , as they danced back and forth , shone and sparkled like butterflies ' wings . At last the lamps began , one by one , to go out , and by degrees a soft sort of light , like moonlight , settled down on the whole place ; and the fine-dressed servants that had robed the Little Sweetheart in her white satin gown took it off , and put her to bed in a gold bedstead , with golden silk sheets .