noon
Now , sir , for my great pleasure , play us ` Home , Sweet Home . ' I have not been here for four months , and it is good to be with friends again . '' And they all sang it together , and were perfectly at home with each other after it . So much so , that the Bishop asked Rahal to give him a cup of tea and a little bread ; `` I have come from Fair Island today , '' he said , `` and have not eaten since noon . '' Then all the women went out together to prepare and serve the requested meal , so that it came with wonderful swiftness , and beaming smiles , and charming words of laughing pleasure . And when he saw a little table drawn to the hearth for him and quickly spread with the food he needed and smelled the refreshing odour of the young Hyson , and heard the pleasant tinkle of china and glass and silver as Thora placed them before the large chair he was to occupy , he sat down happily to eat and drink , while Thora served him , and Conall smoked and watched them with a now-and-then smile or word or two , while Rahal and Barbara talked , and Ian played charmingly -- with soft pedal down -- quotations from Beethoven 's `` Pastoral Symphony '' and `` Hark , 'T is the Linnet ! '' from the oratorio , `` Joshua . ''