noon
Thoughts of the doctor quieted her , she believed , not knowing that Heaven was already owning its submissive child , and breathing upon it a soothing benediction . The moan of the winter wind and the sound of the snow beating against her little window ceased to annoy her . Heaven , happiness , Aikenside and Guy , all seem blended into one great good just within her reach , and when the long clock below the stairs struck three , she did not hear it , but with the tear stains upon her face she lay nestled among her pillows , dreaming that her grandmother had come back from the bright world of glory to bless her darling child . It was broad noon ere Maddy awoke , and starting up she looked about her in bewilderment , wondering where she was and what agency had been at work in her room , transforming it from the cold , comfortless apartment she had entered the previous night into the cheery-looking chamber , with a warm fire blazing in the tiny fireplace , a rug spread down upon the hearth , a rocking-chair drawn up before it , and all traces of the little hired girl as completely obliterated as if she had never been . In her grief Maddy seemed to have forgotten how to make things cozy , and as , during her grandmother 's illness , her own room had been left to the care of the hired girl , Nettie , it wore a neglected , rude aspect , which had grated on Maddy 's finer feelings , and made everything so uninviting . But this morning all was changed . Some skillful hand had been busy there while she slept , and Maddy was wondering who it could be , when the door opened cautiously and Flora 's good-humored face looked in -- Flora from Aikenside .