midday
she sobbed , as she clasped her arms round his neck . Gethin gently loosed her clinging fingers , and kissed the tears from her eyes , and in her heart welled up again the tender love which had been smothered and buried for so long . Gwilym Morris came hurrying down from his `` study , '' a tiny room partitioned off from the hayloft . And if the fatted calf was not killed for Gethin 's return , a fine goose was , and no happier family sat down to their midday meal that day in all Wales than the household of Garthowen . In the afternoon Gethin insisted upon taking his sickle to the cornfield , and although the work was new to him his brawny arm soon made an impression on the standing corn . The field was full of laughter and talk , the sweet autumn air was laden with the scent of the blackberries and honeysuckle in the hedges , and the work went on with a will until , at four o'clock , the reapers took a rest , sitting on the sunny hedge sides . Through the gap Ann and Morva appeared , bringing the welcome basket of tea .