noon
what would she think of his absence now ? -- an absence for which he had not prepared her , and which was not on this occasion justified by any petulance or willfulness on her part ? The idea was maddening , but there was no alternative . It was noon on the ensuing day when Fernand Wagner , pale and care-worn , again sought that spot on the strand where the rudely constructed cottage stood ; but Nisida was not within the hut . He roved along the shore to a considerable distance , and still beheld her not . Terrible alarms now oppressed him . Could she have done some desperate deed to rid herself of an existence whereof she was weary ?