midday
They had been out into the world to nurse the sick , and had returned -LRB- each laden with her basket -RRB- in the glory of a summer morning . The elder woman , weary with her labours , waited with half-closed eyes for the door to open . The younger , pale , but full of irrepressible vitality , stood looking at the rich , warm human life which she had renounced for ever . A young wife , with an infant on her arm , had brought her husband his midday meal , and he had flung down his scythe to kiss her under the trees . Those two faces , browned with the sun , flushed with the bloom of the flower , seemed the natural product of the beautiful earth . You could almost hear the myriad sounds of summer ; waters trickling through the moss and roots of the wood , the hum of bees , the birds ' joyous songs . The very sunlight seemed to dance for gladness among the leaf-shadows as it played over the grey garb of the Sisters .