noon
She admitted it , and we did n't take the trouble to deny it . In a way , she was regarded as a public benefactor . Nobody else cared to spend the money necessary to be a Smart Set , and since Mrs. Payley was willing to fight and be bled , so to speak , to give our town tone and inject a little excitement into our prairie lives now and then , we felt that the least we could do was to regard her as a social colossus . The Payleys were the only people in Homeburg who had lunch at noon , and as early as 1900 they ate it from the bare table . She was the only woman in Homeburg who could `` look in '' on an afternoon gabble of any kind for a few minutes and get away with it without insulting the hostess . When she shook hands with you , you always grabbed in the wrong place , no matter how much thought you put into it , and while you were readjusting your sights and clawing for her fingers and perspiring with mortification , she was getting a start on you which kept you bashfully humble as long as she was in sight . She was real goods , Mrs. Payley was -- not arrogant , but just naturally superior .