noon
If her husband would only break his worthless neck in one of his mad rushes with his machine , Emmet reflected savagely , or drink himself to death -- Any moment some one might come in and find him there . He got up and locked the door against intrusion before he should be able to master the outward signs of his emotion . Then he returned to his chair and looked about , thinking confusedly . There was something pitiless in the glaring light of noon that disclosed every crack and stain on the ugly brown walls . It was like the relentless light of his new revelation turned upon the stains and patches of his soul , dreary and terrible . Had the hour been twilight , some glamour of lost romance and self-pity might have fallen upon him like a violet veil , hiding the sordid truth ; but he lacked the imagination with which artistic natures may shield themselves , and he saw things as they were . He even wandered momently from his own misery to reflect that he would have this room refitted and painted a more cheerful hue , whether for himself or for his successor .