noon
`` You shall do as you like , my dear , '' replied Lady Charteris ; `` the young man 's mother is my dearest friend , and for her sake we will be kind to him . '' * * * * * It was one of those Italian mornings when the fair face of Nature seemed bathed in beauty . The air was full of the music of birds ; the waters of the Arno rolled languidly on ; oleanders and myrtles were in full bloom ; birds sang as they sing only under the blue sky of Italy . It was not yet noon when Lady Charteris and her daughter reached the little villa . Before they came to the house , Valentine caught one glimpse of a pretty , pale face with large dark eyes . Could that be pretty , smiling Dora ? There were the shining rings of dark hair ; but where were the smiles Ronald had described ?