noon
`` Most willingly . I could desire nothing better , '' said my brother , smiling inwardly at the enthusiasm of the young warrior . The labourers had just returned from wood and field , and when Edmund was recognised he was greeted with vociferous cheers , which made the woods ring . But I can not describe the meeting of Alfgar with the mother and sister of Bertric ; they were alone a long time together after the noon meat , and I saw afterwards their eyes were red with weeping ; well , they were not all tears of sorrow . On the whole it has been a day of deep happiness , hallowed rather than shadowed by the thought of Bertric , the circumstances of whose heroic death were only now fully known to his parents and sister . ... . The voluminous pages of Father Cuthbert 's diary for the years of bitter woe and misery which followed can not be fully transcribed ; they would fill a volume themselves , and we must content ourselves with a few extracts , which will probably interest our readers , and carry on the thread of the history to the place where our narrative will again flow free and uninterrupted .