noon
`` Briggs could drive you in the pony carriage . '' The temptation is too great . She has winked rather hard to make tears come , and now she ungratefully winks them away again and dances for joy . It is almost noon when they reach the Latimers ' . Their house is about as large as madame 's , but it has a greater air of carelessness , of disorder in its most charming estate . John Latimer lives all over it , and there are books and papers everywhere , and _ bric-à-brac _ in all the corners . The redwood mantel in the sitting-room is shelved nearly up to the ceiling , and tiled around the grate , and is just one picture of beauty .