noon
Well , just go and look again . '' `` Kitty , '' quoth my father , `` you have not only asked what time it is thrice within the last ten minutes , but you have got my watch , and Roland 's great chronometer , and the Dutch clock out of the kitchen , all before you , and they all concur in the same tale , -- to-day is not to-morrow . '' `` They are all wrong , I know , '' said my mother , with mild firmness ; `` and they 've never gone right since he left . '' Now out comes a letter , for I hear the rustle , and then a step glides towards the lamp , and the dear , gentle , womanly face -- fair still , fair ever for me , fair as when it bent over my pillow in childhood 's first sickness , or when we threw flowers at each other on the lawn at sunny noon ! And now Blanche is whispering ; and now the flutter , the start , the cry , -- `` It is true ! it is true ! Your arms , mother .