midday
said Theron , eying the lawyer with a cool self-control which had come all at once to him . `` Me ? Oh , I vote Aye . '' `` Well , I did what you told me to do , '' Theron Ware remarked to Sister Soulsby , when at last they found themselves alone in the sitting-room after the midday meal . It had taken not a little strategic skirmishing to secure the room to themselves for the hospitable Alice , much touched by the thought of her new friend 's departure that very evening had gladly proposed to let all the work stand over until night , and devote herself entirely to Sister Soulsby . When , finally , Brother Soulsby conceived and deftly executed the coup of interesting her in the budding of roses , and then leading her off into the garden to see with her own eyes how it was done , Theron had a sense of being left alone with a conspirator . The notion impelled him to plunge at once into the heart of their mystery .