midday
Perhaps twenty minutes later , Tess drew from the boy 's arms . `` Daddy air callin ' me , '' she said , softly . And she went back to the shanty with the words , `` I 'm goin ' to be married tomorrow , '' ringing in her heart . The next day , directly after the midday meal , Tessibel went to see Mrs. Longman , whose triple tragedy had made the woman an invalid , with broken nerves and useless hands . Every few days since the drowning of Myra Longman and Ben Letts and the baby , the squatter girl had carried to the sick woman some little offering to gladden her lonely existence . As Tess walked along the rocks , the image of Frederick Graves persistently pervaded her thoughts . Before the going down of another sun he would be her husband .