midday
But of what use , now , to do that ? It was the end of February 1880 . A day resembling spring had come , illusive , but exquisite . Hilda , having started out too hurriedly for the office after the midday dinner , had had to return home for a proof which she had forgotten . She now had the house to herself , as a kingdom over which she reigned ; for , amid all her humiliation and pensive dejection , she had been able to exert sufficient harsh force to drive her mother to London in company with Miss Gailey . She was alone , free ; and she tasted her freedom to the point of ecstasy . She conned corrected proofs at her meals : this was life .