noon
If he comes tonight , while they 're talking , we 'll tell the watchman to knock at the house door , and at the same time we 'll all come out of our rooms with lights , as if we were going to the dining-room , and catch them . '' While this plot was being hatched in the corridor , Petra was preparing breakfast in the obscurity of the kitchen . There was very little to prepare , for the meal invariably consisted of a fried egg , which never by any accident was large , and a beefsteak , which , in memories reverting to the remotest epoch , had not a single time by any exception been soft . At noon , the Biscayan , in tones of deep mystery , told Petra about the conspiracy , but the maid-of-all-work was in no mood for jests that day . She had just received a letter that filled her with worriment . Her brother-in-law wrote her that Manuel , the eldest of Petra 's children , was being sent to Madrid . No lucid explanation of the reason for this decision was given .