noon
`` I never saw you quite so beautiful , my baby , as this morning , '' he said , as he placed her on the floor . When he entered the room upstairs Ruth had recovered her composure and stood waiting , her petite figure drawn to its full height , her anxious face unusually thin , her eyes , set in the dark rings of a sleepless night , looking blacker and stormier than ever in the shadows of her disheveled hair . `` Sorry I could not come sooner , Ruth , '' he began , with evident embarrassment . `` But I did not get to sleep until just before day , and I was so exhausted I slept until noon . '' `` Let us waste no words , '' said the soft , round voice . `` I have waited long ; I am waiting still for ycur explanation . Why was that woman in your study alone with you last night at half-past ten o'clock ? ''