twelve o'clock
Orsino stayed in the office during the hot September morning , busying himself with the endless details of which he was now master , and thinking from time to time of Maria Consuelo . He intended to go and see her in the afternoon , and he , like Contini , planned what he should do and say . But his plans were all unsatisfactory , and once he found himself staring at the blank wall opposite his table in a state of idle abstraction long unfamiliar to him . Soon after twelve o'clock , Contini came back , hot and radiant . Maria Consuelo had refused the water ice , but the charm of her manner had repaid the architect for the disappointment . Orsino asked whether she had decided upon any dwelling . `` She has taken the apartment in the Palazzo Barberini , '' answered Contini .