noon
`` You shall have an early dinner , Grant , and then we 'll take tea in the evening , and eat toast and jam just as we did when I was a child . '' `` Yes , that will be very comfortable . '' He had tried to say pleasant , but he could not speak the word . The day was so warm and bright that a little after noon he took her out for a short drive , then she lay down to rest again , resolved to be strong and pass the evening below . The change was pleasant to her -- she felt quite elated , as she always was in health , at the idea of amusement . They got through the day rather quietly , and Elsie did not have a single relapse of her nervous tremors . When she awoke from her afternoon nap it was growing dark .