summer noon
The scene had changed from that of her former visit , and summer was keeping the promises of spring . Yellow stars of biting stone-crop covered the walls of the ruin ; the fruit of the blackthorn was growing purple , of the hawthorn , red ; the lesser dodder crept , like pink lacework , over furze and heather ; bright-eyed euphrasy and sweet wild thyme were murmured over by many bees ; at the altar 's foot grew brake fern and towering foxgloves ; while upon the sacred stone itself brambles laid their fruit , a few ripe blackberries shining from clusters of red and green . Seeding grasses and docks likewise nourished within the little chapel , and ragged robins and dandelions brought the best beauty they had . Among which matters , hid in loneliness , to the sound of that hymn of life which rises in a whisper from all earth at summer noon , Joan prayed for her baby that it might not be born in vain . Among the varied ambitions now manifested by Joan was one already hinted at -- one which increased to the displacement of smaller interests : she much desired to see again her home , if but for the space of an hour . The days and weeks of an unusually smiling summer brought autumn , and with it the cutting of golden grain ; but the bustle and custom of harvest failed to draw Joan among her kind . Human life faded somewhat , even to the verge of unreality with her .