two hours after midday
For a good reason had he been impressed from the first moment by the glance of that unknown man , by the eyes which never change in a countenance despite the passing of years . Often had he seen those eyes in his childhood when his father made war in Sicily with Hamilcar , and he himself was being educated in Carthage . That shepherd was Hannibal ! Sónnica awoke two hours after midday . The oblique rays of the sun filtered through the gilded bars of her window over which crept the foliage of grapevines . Its light heightened the color of the stucco frames around scenes from the Olympian games painted on the wall , and of the columns of rose-colored marble which flanked the doorway . The beautiful Greek threw to the floor the covers of white Sætabis linen , and her first glance swept her figure , taking in the outlines of her body with affectionate eyes , from her swelling bosom curving in harmonious lines , to the tips of her rosy feet .