noon
And knowing well enough that Tai-yü never spared any one with her mouth , she was seized with such fear lest she should jeer at them , that she immediately dragged her past the window . `` Come along ! '' she observed . `` Hsi Jen , I remember , said that she would be going at noon to wash some clothes at the pond . I presume she 's there already so let 's go and join her . '' Tai-yü inwardly grasped her meaning , but , after indulging in a couple of sardonic smiles , she had no alternative but to follow in her footsteps . Pao-ch ` ai had , during this while , managed to embroider two or three petals , when she heard Pao-yü begin to shout abusingly in his dreams .