morning, noon
And as the love-song died on the night , Jill passed slowly into the inner chamber , failing to see the man kneel to kiss the rug impressed by the passage of her little feet . PART II THE FLOWER The Rolls Royce containing representatives of the Savoy and Shepherds in the shapes of beautifully gowned , handsome , placid , somewhat dull , the Honourable Mary Bingham , pronounced Beam , her friend Diana Lytham , and the rotund personalities of Sir Timothy and Lady Sarah Ann Gruntham , drew up behind the menacing hand of a policeman alongside a limousine containing representatives of Shepherds and the Savoy in the shapes of two rotund-to-be daughters and one thin son of the race of Gruntham , and the Honourable Mary 's faded mother , who were all racing home in the search of cool baths , or cooler drinks , or a few moments ' repose in a darkened room in which to forget the stifling half hours of a series of social functions , given in honour of Cairo 's most festive week of the season , before starting on a dressing campaign against the depredations made upon the skin by flies , heat , sand , wind , and cosmetics . The past middle-aged Sir Timothy of the latest birthday honours , partner in life of Lady Gruntham , and therefore part possessor of the Gruntham family , was whole owner of an army of chimney stacks which , morning , noon , and night , belched thick oily smoke across one of England 's Northern counties in the process of manufacturing a substitute for something ; also he owned a banking account almost as big as his honest old heart . _ La famille _ Gruntham were breaking their first wide-eyed , open-mouthed _ tour de monde _ in Cairo , having selected their hotel from an advertisement in the A.B.C. . The Honourable Mary 's nondescript mother sat patiently waiting the decisive moment which would see her _ en route _ once more to tea in her bedroom and the last chapter of a Hichens novel , as she had patiently awaited decisive moments for years , having uncomplainingly allowed the reins which controlled the large estate , and large fortune , to slip into the large , capable hands of her daughter , just as she had also either as uncomplainingly criss-crossed the world in the wake of her daughter 's unaristocratically large footsteps , or submissively remained at home for the hunting , in which field the Honourable Mary excelled . Diana Lytham , spinster , through no want of trying to remedy the defect , expert at bridge , razor-edged of tongue , but still youthful enough to allow the lid of Pandora 's casket to lift on occasions , also to be described by those who feared the razor-edge as petulant instead of peevish , and cendrée instead of sandy , passed the tedious moments of waiting in a running commentary upon the idiosyncrasies and oddities of the people and refreshments of the past hours , with a verve which she fondly believed to be a combination of sarcasm and cynicism , but which , in reality , was the kernel of the nut of spitefulness , hanging from the withering bough of the tree of passing youth .