noon
I could n't very well rush back , ring the door bell , and inquire . I must find out somehow now without asking , as it 's too absurd , when we 've been engaged since yesterday afternoon . '' Talking , they came near the edge of the olive wood , where a narrow lane divided the olives from a sea of pines . The white main road in the distance was empty , and silent with the digestive silence of Riviera thoroughfares at noon , when all the world , from millionaire to peasant , begins to think of the midday meal . Even motors were at rest , comfortably absorbing petrol and leaving the roads to sleep in peace . Far off among the trees Vanno caught a glimpse of two men picnicking , cabdrivers eating their bread and meat and drinking the rough red wine of the country , while their little _ voitures _ stood a few yards away , the horses well in shade , their faces buried in nose-bags , and a miniature wolf-like dog asleep on the back of one . As Vanno and the priest drew nearer both men got up respectfully , wiping their smiling mouths .