noon
It was easy to perceive that this personage belonged to the tribe -- rash , vain , and young -- who are eager to take offence , and to provoke quarrel . Nevertheless , the cavalier had noble and great qualities . A stranger to courts , in the camp he was renowned for a chivalrous generosity and an extravagant valour , that emulated the ancient heroes of Spanish romaunt and song . His was a dawn that promised a hot noon and a glorious eve . The name of this brave soldier was Martin Fonseca . He was of an ancient but impoverished house , and related in a remote degree to the Duke de Lerma . In his earliest youth he had had cause to consider himself the heir to a wealthy uncle on his mother 's side ; and with those expectations , while still but a boy , he had been invited to court by the cardinal-duke .