noon
Yet was there a sigh in the midst of it all , for the absent and sinning one : Worlds like to this Mingle sorrow and bliss . Mrs. Dunmore and Jennie were busy in talking over the past , and forming plans for the future , when Mr. Colbert was announced . `` I trust you will excuse my early call , '' said he , as they arose to greet him . `` I have to leave the village at noon , which is my only apology for intruding upon your morning hours . '' `` We are always at home to our old and valued friends , '' replied Mrs. Dunmore . `` I hope our long separation will not make us strangers to each other . '' `` Miss Jennie reminds me that a long interval has come between us , '' said the clergyman , glancing at the graceful and womanly figure before him ; `` I have been accustomed to think of her as the child of my pleasant rambles , so that I am scarcely prepared to meet her in another form . ''