midday
`` You are a brave girl , Hildegunde . '' `` I am anything but that , Guardian . Still , do not fear I shall flinch . '' After partaking of the midday meal at Assmannshausen , the Countess proposed that they should leave their horses in the stable , and walk the short third of a league to Ehrenfels , and to this her guardian agreed . He found more difficulty with the custodian than had been expected . The man objected , trembling . Without a written order from his master he dare not allow any one to visit the prisoner .