noon
` What other subject should interest me ? More than six centuries ago , the government of that land interested my ancestor , and he came here to achieve it . ' The stars were shining before they quitted the Arabian tabernacle of Besso . The air was just as soft as a sweet summer English noon , and quite as still . The pavilions of the terrace and the surrounding bowers were illuminated by the varying tints of a thousand lamps . Bright carpets and rich cushions were thrown about for those who cared to recline ; the brothers Farhi , for example , and indeed most of the men , smoking inestimable nargilehs . The Consul-General Laurella begged permission to present Lord Montacute to his daughters Thérèse and Sophonisbe , who , resolved to show to him that Damascus was not altogether so barbarous as he deemed it , began talking of new dances and the last opera .