noon
The refectory opened on a narrow terrace at the rear of the building , which was sodded with turf and starred with pansies and ox-eyed daisies , and on the wide , stone window sills sat boxes and vases filled with maiden-hair ferns and oxalis , with heliotrope and double white violets . Three lines of tables ran down this bright pretty room , and in the centre rose a spiral stair to a cushioned seat , where when `` Grace '' had been pronounced , the Reader for the day made selections from such volumes of prose or poetry as were deemed by the Matron elevating and purifying in influence ; tonic for the soul , stimulant for the brain , balm for the heart . Close to the rear wall overhanging the lake , ran a treillage of grape vines , and on the small grass sown plat of garden , belated paeonies tossed up their brilliant balls , as play-things for the wind that swept over the blue waves , breaking into a fringe of foam beyond the stone enclosure . Except at meals , and during the last half hour in the dormitory , night and morning , no restriction of silence was imposed , and one hour was set apart at noon for merely social intercourse , or any individual scheme of labor . Busy , tranquil , cheerful , often merry , they endeavored to eschew evil thoughts ; and cultivated that rare charity which makes each tolerant of the failings of the other , which broadens a sympathy that can excuse individual differences of opinion , and that consecrates the harmony of true home life . The room assigned to Beryl was at the extremity of the second story , just beneath the studio ; and as the north end of the wings was built at each corner into projections that were crowned with bell towers , this apartment had a circular oriel window , swung like a basket from the wall , and guarded by an iron balcony . Cool , quiet , restful as an oratory seemed the nest ; with its floor covered by matting diapered in blue , its low , wide bedstead of curled maple , with snowy Marseilles quilt , and crisply fluted pillow cases ; its book shelves hanging on the wall , surmounted by a copy in oil of Angelico 's Elizabeth of Hungary , with rapt face upraised as she lifted her rose-laden skirt .