noon
The mood of exaltation upheld her through the night , and into the next day . Elinor eyed her curiously , and with some anxiety . It was a long time since she had been a girl , going about star-eyed with power over a man , but she remembered that lost time well . At noon Louis came in for a hasty luncheon , and before he left he drew Lily into the little study and slipped a solitaire diamond on her engagement finger . To Lily the moment was almost a holy one , but he seemed more interested in the quality of the stone and its appearance on her hand than in its symbolism . `` Got you cinched now , honey . Do you like it ? ''