noon
Night after night he took his seat by the fire , exactly half an hour after the evening meal was ended . Night after night Clara sat with half-closed eyes , hearing his wooden voice , as in a dream , and wondering how all would end . There was no change in their lives or habits beyond the introduction of what Greifenstein called the amusement of his wife . It was all the same , the monotonous succession of morning and evening , of night and noon and evening again . Possibly the lives of these two persons might have continued to crawl along in the narrow channel they had made for themselves during many years more , if the events which had been so long preparing had been retarded ; for Greifenstein was a man of habit in everything , incapable of weariness in the performance of what he considered to be his duty , and Clara 's really strong health might have carried her through half a lifetime of exasperating stagnation . Indeed , if things altered at all after the conversation about her state , the change was for the better . A fictitious calm descended upon the old house , and a certain gentleness found its way into the relations of the couple which was agreeable to both .