noon
That is ancient history . At present her widower supped on powdered charcoal and breakfasted on bismuth . The cooks he still retained , not to prepare these triumphs , but for the benefit of his heir , for whom he had no affection but whom he respected as the next incumbent and treated accordingly , that is to say , as one gentleman treats another . On this high noon , when the servants had gone , the father sat back and looked at his son , who , it then occurred to him , astonishingly resembled his mother . He had the same eyes , too big , too blue ; the same lashes , too long , too dark ; the same ears , too small and a trifle too far forward . In addition he had the same full upper-lip , the same cleft in the chin , the same features refined almost to the point of degeneracy . But the ensemble was charming -- too charming , as was his voice , which he had acquired at Oxford where , at the House , he had studied , though what , except voice culture , one may surmise and never know .