noon
All she wanted was to be a little girl , to be efficiently taken care of by some yielding yet superior power , stupider and steadier than herself . It seemed that the only lover she had ever wanted was a lover in a dream . `` ODI PROFANUM VULGUS '' One day in the midst of Gloria 's illness there occurred a curious incident that puzzled Miss McGovern , the trained nurse , for some time afterward . It was noon , but the room in which the patient lay was dark and quiet . Miss McGovern was standing near the bed mixing some medicine , when Mrs. Patch , who had apparently been sound asleep , sat up and began to speak vehemently : `` Millions of people , '' she said , `` swarming like rats , chattering like apes , smelling like all hell ... monkeys ! Or lice , I suppose . For one really exquisite palace ... on Long Island , say -- or even in Greenwich ... for one palace full of pictures from the Old World and exquisite things -- with avenues of trees and green lawns and a view of the blue sea , and lovely people about in slick dresses ... I 'd sacrifice a hundred thousand of them , a million of them . ''