midday
When it had become a fact she would pretend indignation and scandal before her coterie ; perhaps she would get sick so that all the islanders would sympathize with her , and yet , her joy would be great , the joy of a vengeance nourished for many years , on seeing a Febrer , the son of the man she hated , submerged in what she considered the most ignominious of dishonors . Urged on by the certainty of ruin , he must give her this joy by carrying into effect his union with the daughter of Valls ! Ah , poverty ! He wandered along the solitary streets near the Almudaina and the Cathedral until past midday . At last hunger instinctively turned his steps homeward . He ate in silence , without knowing what was put before him , not even seeing Mammy , who , worried and restless since the previous day , was eager to start a conversation in order to learn more news . After luncheon he stepped out upon a small gallery with a crumbling balustrade crowned by three Roman busts which looked into the garden .