noon
Dion made no social attempt to entertain his companion . Had she not just said to him that long ago they had gone beyond all the silly little things that worry the fools ? In the midst of the fierce activity and the riot of noise which marks out the Golden Horn from all other water-ways , they traveled towards emptiness , silence , the desolation on the hill near the sacred place of the Turks , where each new Sultan is girded with the sword of Osman , and where the standard-bearer of the Prophet sleeps in the tomb that was seen in a vision . In the strong heat of noon they left the caique and walked slowly towards the hill which rises to the north-east , where the dark towers of the cypresses watch over the innumerable graves . Mrs. Clarke had put up a sun umbrella . Her face was protected by a thin white veil . She wore a linen dress , pale gray in color , with white lines on it , and long loose gloves of suede .