midday
Truth to say , he saw her every night . She no longer seemed a playful sister or a lovely pious maiden ; she wore a bridal robe , with white flowers in her hair ; and from beneath her drooping eyelids fell moist glances of hopeful promise that set his cheeks aglow . He could feel that she was coming , that she was promising to delay no longer ; that she said to him , ` Here I am , receive me ! ' Thrice a day when the _ Angelus _ rang out -- at break of dawn , in the fulness of midday , and at the gentle fall of twilight -- he bared his head and said an _ Ave _ with a glance around him as if to ascertain whether the bell were not at last announcing Mary 's coming . He was five-and-twenty . He awaited her . During the month of May the young priest 's expectation was fraught with joyful hope .