midday
`` And did the Emperor return to the farmhouse ? '' asked Captain Beaudoin . `` That 's more than I can say , my dear sir ; I left him sitting on his stool . It was midday , the battle was drawing nearer , and it occurred to me that it was time to be thinking of my own return . All that I can tell you besides is that a general to whom I pointed out the position of Carignan in the distance , in the plain to our rear , appeared greatly surprised to learn that the Belgian frontier lay in that direction and was only a few miles away . Ah , that the poor Emperor should have to rely on such servants ! '' Gilberte , all smiles , was giving her attention to the captain and keeping him supplied with buttered toast , as much at ease as she had ever been in bygone days when she received him in her salon during her widowhood .