summer noon
How sad he looked -- he did not seem to be paying much attention to what was going on . She knew well enough that he was thinking of her ; she could feel it in her head as she had often felt it before . But she dared not let her mind go out to him in answer , for , if once she did so , she knew also that he would discover her . So she sat , and fed her eyes upon his face , taking her farewell of it , while round her , and beneath her , the hum of the House went on , as ever present and as unnoticed as the hum of bees upon a summer noon . Presently the gentleman who had been so kind to her , sat down in the next seat to Geoffrey , and began to whisper to him , as he did so glancing once or twice towards the grating behind which she was . She guessed that he was telling him the story of the lady who was so unaccountably anxious to hear the debate , and how pretty she was . But it did not seem to interest Geoffrey much , and Beatrice was feminine enough to notice it , and to be glad of it .