About noon
She just watched her only friend eating it , while a little moisture still trickled out from her big eyes on to her flushed cheeks , and the words still hummed in her brain : `` Peace on earth and mercy mild , Jesus Christ a little child . '' Then , still speaking no word , she ran out and put clean sheets on her and her man 's bed . She was on wires , she could not keep still , and all the morning she polished , polished . About noon she went out into her garden , and from under the glass plucked every flower that grew there -- snowdrops , scillas , `` angels ' tears , '' quite two dozen blossoms . She brought them into the little parlour and opened its window wide . The sun was shining , and fell on the flowers strewn on the table , ready to be made into the nosegay of triumphant happiness . While she stood fingering them , delicately breaking half an inch off their stalks so that they should last the longer in water , she became conscious of someone on the pavement outside the window , and looking up saw Mrs. Clirehugh .