noon
To be sure , how forgetful I had become ! It was the packet I destined for Donna Inez , and which , in the confusion of the night before , I had omitted to bring to the Casino . I immediately despatched Mike to the commissary with my luggage and orders to ascertain when we were expected to march . He soon returned with the intelligence that our corps was not to move before noon , so that I had yet some hours to spare and make my adieux to the senhora . I can not exactly explain the reason , but I certainly did bestow a more than common attention upon my toilet that morning . The senhora was nothing to me . It is true she had , as she lately most candidly informed me , a score of admirers , among whom I was not even reckoned ; she was evidently a coquette whose greatest pleasure was to sport and amuse herself with the passions she excited in others .