noon
`` I 'd promised to go and see my brother as has just lost his wife ; but of course , if it is n't convenient , mum -- '' `` It really is not , Martha . Miss Bertha will be out all day , and I do n't like being left alone . You shall go to-morrow instead . '' Half an hour later , Mrs. Cross went out shopping , and was away till noon . On returning , she found the house full of the odour of something burnt . `` What 's this smell , Martha ? '' she asked at the kitchen door , `` what is burning ? ''