noon
`` You will drink , then , at least ? Ah , that is better . And will you convey my apologies to your two bandits and beg them to excuse my conversing with you in English ? To tell the truth '' -- here , having helped them to a slice apiece and laid one aside for the Princess , he took the remainder upon his own plate -- `` though as a rule we make collation at noon or a little before , my English stomach cries out against an empty morning . You will like my Thespians , sir , when you see 'em . The younger ladies are decidedly -- er -- vivacious . Bianca , our Columbine , has all the makings of a beauty -- she has but just turned the corner of seventeen ; and Lauretta , who plays the scheming chambermaid , is more than passably good-looking .