early noon
Pale , wan , passive , and smileless , she was the ghost of her former self ! But days rolled on , and the evil one drew near ; she recoiled , but she never dreamed of resisting . How many equal victims of her age and sex does the altar witness ! One day , at early noon , Lord Vargrave took his way to Evelyn 's . He had been to pay a political visit in the Faubourg St. Germain , and he was now slowly crossing the more quiet and solitary part of the gardens of the Tuileries , his hands clasped behind him , after his old , unaltered habit , and his eyes downcast , -- when suddenly a man , who was seated alone beneath one of the trees , and who had for some moments watched his steps with an anxious and wild aspect , rose and approached him . Lord Vargrave was not conscious of the intrusion , till the man laid his hand on Vargrave 's arm , and exclaimed , -- `` It is he ! it is !