noon
`` They would swear the mother that bore them a sorceress for a zecchin , '' said the Preceptor . `` Away , then , '' said Mont-Fitchet ; `` at noon the affair will proceed . I have not seen our senior in such earnest preparation since he condemned to the stake Hamet Alfagi , a convert who relapsed to the Moslem faith . '' The ponderous castle-bell had tolled the point of noon , when Rebecca heard a trampling of feet upon the private stair which led to her place of confinement . The noise announced the arrival of several persons , and the circumstance rather gave her joy ; for she was more afraid of the solitary visits of the fierce and passionate Bois-Guilbert than of any evil that could befall her besides . The door of the chamber was unlocked , and Conrade and the Preceptor Malvoisin entered , attended by four warders clothed in black , and bearing halberds . `` Daughter of an accursed race ! ''