noon
She caught the cold hand to her lips , and laid her cheek near his mouth , that she might know and realize that his spirit had indeed joined Mary 's in the `` land of rest . '' The icy touch extinguished every gleam of hope , and calmly she drew the cloak over the loved face , concealing every feature , then dropped her handkerchief upon the covered head , and drawing her mantilla like a shroud about her , went her way to wait for night and darkness . Stretched on a couch in the home of the kind-hearted Señora who had received her , Inez noted the moments and hours as they passed . An eternity seemed comprised in the time which elapsed from noon till dusk . Again and again she raised her bowed head , and looked out on the slowly sinking sun . It passed at length beyond her vision . She rose and sought her friend , an aged dame , whom God had gifted with a gentle heart , keenly alive to the grief and sufferings of another .