one in the morning
She knew how bitterly he would be disappointed . `` Only two more nights till Christmas eve , two more nights , two more nights , '' sang Joyce to Jules in a sort of chant . She was sitting beside his bed with a box in her lap , full of little dolls , which she was dressing . Every day since his accident she had been allowed to make him two visits , -- one in the morning , and one in the afternoon . They helped wonderfully in shortening the long , tedious days for Jules . True , Madame Gréville came often with broths and jellies , Cousin Kate made flying visits to leave rare hothouse grapes and big bunches of violets ; Clotilde hung over him with motherly tenderness , and his uncle looked into the room many times a day to see that he wanted nothing . Jules 's famished little heart drank in all this unusual kindness and attention as greedily as the parched earth drinks in the rain .