twelve
o'clock sharp
And how pretty she was ! It seemed incredible that she came of a family of homely people ! Don Benito directed them all into the dining-room . Breakfast had been waiting for some time ; in this house old customs were kept up ; twelve o'clock sharp ! They took their seats around the table , and Febrer , who sat next to the host , was annoyed by his heaving respiration , by the sharp gasps which interrupted his words . In the silence which often reigns at the beginning of a dinner the wheezing of his unsound lungs was painfully noticeable . The rich Chueta pursed his lips , rounding them like the mouth of a trumpet , and drew in the air with a disagreeable rattle .