midday
After that kiss , the lover believed that all his desires were about to be immediately realized . The most difficult part of the road was already passed . But with Freya one always had to expect something absurd and inconceivable . The midday gun aroused them from a rapture that had lasted but a few seconds as long as years . The steps of the guard , growing nearer all the time , finally separated the two and unlocked their arms . Freya was the first to calm herself . Only a slight haze flitted across her pupils now , like the vapor from a recently extinguished fire .