noon
She stood , with her hound beside her , in an embrasure of the wall , looking over the sea : to the eye a figure so maidenly and innocent and -LRB- in a sense -RRB- forlorn that I recalled Gil Perez ' tale as the merest frenzy , and wondered how I had come to listen to it with any belief . Her seaward gaze would be passing over the very spot where we had laid him : only a low wall hiding the freshly turned earth . My Master had ridden off early : I could guess upon what errand . He returned shortly after noon , unhurt and looking like a man satisfied with his morning 's work . And at dinner , watching his demeanour narrowly , I was satisfied that either he had not heard the prisoner 's tale or had rejected it utterly . For he took his seat in the gayest spirits , and laughed and talked with the stranger throughout the meal . And afterwards , having fetched an old lute which had been his mother 's , he sat and watched her fit new strings to it , rallying her over her tangle .