noon
The mother asked : `` How is it with the child ? '' `` She is well . '' A sheaf of white crape and black was hung upon the door of the house , and there it swayed and rustled in the wind and whispered its tidings . At noon the preparation of the dead was finished , and in the coffin lay the fair young form , beautiful , and in the sweet face a great peace . Two mourners sat by it , grieving and worshipping -- Hannah and the black woman Tilly . Hester came , and she was trembling , for a great trouble was upon her spirit . She said : `` She asks for a note . ''