noon before
And yet , somewhere at the back of his brain , the monotonous and oracular voice of a wise self-knowledge kept answering , `` But you will do it , when you have had leisure to be lonely , and have tortured yourself with memories of her . '' It seemed to Granger as though Strangeways himself were the speaker of those words ; but when he turned round hotly , prepared for argument , he found that the eyes had become glazed and vacant , and that at last the body was truly dead . It had no need to live longer -- it had delivered its message . It was past noon before they had completed Strangeways ' burial at the bend . When they had finished , the skies had cleared themselves of storm and cloud , and the sun shone out again . The air was full of earth-fragrance , and the landscape was cool and fresh . Nothing of disorder remained , no sign that a man was dead , save only a mound of piled-up stones and sod , surmounted by a little cross of branches bound together with twisted grass .