noon
In what calendar are kept the records of those next times which never come ? Long before Father Gaspara visited San Pasquale again , Alessandro and Ramona were far away , and strangers were living in their home . It seemed to Ramona in after years , as she looked back over this life , that the news of Father Salvierderra 's death was the first note of the knell of their happiness . It was but a few days afterward , when Alessandro came in one noon with an expression on his face that terrified her ; seating himself in a chair , he buried his face in his hands , and would neither look up nor speak ; not until Ramona was near crying from his silence , did he utter a word . Then , looking at her with a ghastly face , he said in a hollow voice , `` It has begun ! '' and buried his face again . Finally Ramona 's tears wrung from him the following story : Ysidro , it seemed , had the previous year rented a canon , at the head of the valley , to one Doctor Morong .