midday
He was very silent and grave all the while , and , when he did speak , it was for some reason impossible to hear and understand his first sentence , though he spoke correctly and not in a low voice . `` You play the piano ? '' he asked Vera , and immediately leapt up , as she had dropped her handkerchief . He stayed from midday to midnight without speaking , and Vera found him very unattractive . She thought that a white waistcoat in the country was bad form , and his elaborate politeness , his manners , and his pale , serious face with dark eyebrows , were mawkish ; and it seemed to her that he was perpetually silent , probably because he was stupid . When he had gone her aunt said enthusiastically : `` Well ? Is n't he charming ? ''