noon
What could they mean ? Here , for instance , this line about the mother 's coming herself to the city , if , and if , and if ! The letter found Marguerite in the bosom of a family that dwelt in the old Rue Bourbon , only a short way below Canal Street , the city 's centre . The house stands on the street , its drawing-room windows opening upon the sidewalk , and a narrow balcony on the story above shading them scantily at noon . A garden on the side is visible from the street through a lofty , black , wrought-iron fence . Of the details within the enclosure , I remember best the vines climbing the walls of the tall buildings that shut it in , and the urns and vases , and the evergreen foliage of the Japan plum-trees . A little way off , and across the street , was the pleasant restaurant and salesroom of the Christian Women 's Exchange .