noon
He has got his opportunity , but it vexes him ; he has an impression that his companions will soon drift into forgetting both him and his garden . Since the approach of Brandolin the latter has said nothing . The children 's gardens are in a rather wild and distant part of the grounds of Surrenden . It is noon ; most people staying in the house are still in their own rooms ; it is solitary , sunny , still ; a thrush is singing in a jessamine thicket , there is no other sound except that of a gardener 's broom sweeping on the other side of the laurel hedge . The Babe feels that it is now or never for his _ coup de maître _ . He plucks a rose , the best one he has , and offers it to Madame Sabaroff , who accepts it gratefully , though it is considerably earwig-eaten , and puts it in her corsage . The eyes of Brandolin follow it wistfully .