midday sun
He was sincerely and truly religious by nature , and as spotless as a maiden in mind and body . When he had dreamed of a wife , it was always of some shy , innocent girl whom he should woo almost from her mother 's arms ; some gentle , pious maid , carefully reared , who would help him to establish the Christian household of his imagination . He had thought that love would first come to him as admiring respect , then tender friendship , then love for some such maiden ; instead it had swooped down upon him in the form of an intense passion for an absolute stranger -- a woman travelling with a theatrical company . He was like a sleeper who awakens suddenly and finds a scorching midday sun beating upon his eyes . A wrecked freight train upon the track detained for several hours the car in which they travelled . The passengers waived ceremony and conversed to pass the time , and Mr Irving learnt Berene 's name , occupation and destination . He followed her for a week , and at the end of that time asked her hand in marriage .