noon
He had gone from her on the impulse of the sweetness of obeying instantly her slightest wish ; buoyed up by the certainty that no Convent walls could long divide lips which had met and clung with such a passion of mutual need . That evening when , after much adventure , he at length gained the streets of the city , he had trodden them with the mien of a victor . That night he had slept as he had not slept since the hour when his whole life had been embittered by a lying letter and a traitorous tongue . But morning , alas , had brought its doubts ; noon , its dark uncertainties ; and as the hour of Vespers drew near , he had realised , with the helpless misery of despair , that it was madness to expect the Prioress of the White Ladies to break her vows , leave her Nunnery , and fly with him to Warwick . Yet he carried out his plan , and kept to his undertaking , though here , in the calm atmosphere of the crypt , holy chanting descending from above , the remembrance still with him of the aloofness of those stately white figures gliding between the pillars in the distance , he faced the madness of his hopes , and the mournful prospect of a life of loneliness . Presently he arose , crossed the crypt , and took up his position behind a pillar to the right of the exit from the winding stair . The chanting ceased .