midday
Indeed , the next day he undertook to terrify Adelaide Rebekah in like manner , and succeeded very well . But Mordecai suffered a check which lasted long , from the consciousness of a misapplied agitation ; sane as well as excitable , he judged severely his moments of aberration into futile eagerness , and felt discredited with himself . All the more his mind was strained toward the discernment of that friend to come , with whom he would have a calm certainty of fellowship and understanding . It was just then that , in his usual midday guardianship of the old book-shop , he was struck by the appearance of Deronda , and it is perhaps comprehensible now why Mordecai 's glance took on a sudden eager interest as he looked at the new-comer : he saw a face and frame which seemed to him to realize the long-conceived type . But the disclaimer of Jewish birth was for the moment a backward thrust of double severity , the particular disappointment tending to shake his confidence in the more indefinite expectation . Nevertheless , when he found Deronda seated at the Cohens ' table , the disclaimer was for the moment nullified : the first impression returned with added force , seeming to be guaranteed by this second meeting under circumstance more peculiar than the former ; and in asking Deronda if he knew Hebrew , Mordecai was so possessed by the new inrush of belief , that he had forgotten the absence of any other condition to the fulfillment of his hopes . But the answering `` No '' struck them all down again , and the frustration was more painful than before .