noon
Years had been crowded into hours . She was no longer a school-girl -- she was a woman . Miss Plympton soon retired , with the promise to come again when Edith should feel stronger . Breakfast was sent up , and taken away untasted , and at noon Miss Plympton once more made her appearance . `` I have been thinking about many things , '' said Edith , after some preliminary remarks , `` and have been trying to recall what I can of my own remembrance of papa . I was only eight years old , but I have a pretty distinct recollection of him , and it has been strengthened by his portrait , which I always have had . Of my mother I have a most vivid remembrance , and I have never forgotten one single circumstance connected with her last illness .