noon
He had made himself modestly fine for the day to be spent in company of the fair : he had on a necktie which , if expressive of mood , declared his outlook on life to be cheerfuller : it was a vibrant tone of violet that accorded agreeably with his gray suit . A rose-geranium leaf and a stem or two of rusty-gold _ gaggia _ , odors that he loved , occupied at his buttonhole the place of those decorations which distinguished elderly gentlemen are sometimes envied for , and which -- it is a commonplace -- are not worthy to be exchanged for the flower Youth sticks at his coat to aid him to charm . It grew very warm ; the way , though pleasant , was beginning to seem long when they arrived . The old monastery , now a school of forestry ; the Cross of Savoy , where pilgrims rest and dine , gleamed white in the cloudless noon , amid the century-old trees that long ago , before Dante 's time even , earned for the spot its beautiful name of Vallombrosa , Umbrageous Vale . Aurora was by this time starving again , and Gerald knew the pleasure of purveying to the demands of a stomach as untroubled by any back-thought relating to its functioning as that of a big bloomy goddess seated before a meal of ambrosia . He suggested that she accompany her artichoke omelet , her cutlet with the sauce of anchovy , parsley and mustard , by a little red wine . But she would not , even to be companionable .