noon
The vallies , luxuriant in shade , were frequently embellished by the windings of a lucid stream , and diversified by clusters of half-seen cottages . Here the rising turrets of a monastery appeared above the thick trees with which they were surrounded ; and there the savage wilds the travellers had passed , formed a bold and picturesque background to the scene . To the questions put by the duke to the several persons he met , he received answers that encouraged him to proceed . At noon he halted at a village to refresh himself and his people . He could gain no intelligence of Julia , and was perplexed which way to chuse ; but determined at length to pursue the road he was then in , and accordingly again set forward . He travelled several miles without meeting any person who could give the necessary information , and began to despair of success . The lengthened shadows of the mountains , and the fading light gave signals of declining day ; when having gained the summit of a high hill , he observed two persons travelling on horseback in the plains below .