noon
During the week of the trial , she had seen him but twice , and immediately after he had been summoned to attend some suit in New Orleans , and had hurriedly bidden her adieu in the presence of others . With punctilious regularity he wrote studiedly polished , graceful yet merely friendly letters , and like ice morsels they slowly widened the glacier creeping between the two . To her council she admitted only her bruised pride , her bleeding heart , her relentless incorruptible conscience ; and over the conclusion , she shed no tears , made no moan , allowed no margin for pity . Early on that Spring morning , she had received a glowing sheaf of La France and Duchess de Brabant roses , accompanied by a brief note announcing Mr. Dunbar 's return , and requesting an interview at noon . The tone of her reply was markedly cordial , and after offering congratulations upon his birthday , she begged his acceptance of a souvenir made for the occasion by her own hands , a dainty `` bit of embroidery which she flattered herself , he would value for the sake of the donor . '' Who doubts that Vashti made a most elaborate toilette , on that day of humiliation , when discarded and discrowned she trailed her royal robes for the last time across the marble courts of Shushan , going forth to make room for Queen Esther ? Amid the loops of lace at her throat , and into the jewelled clasp of her belt , Leo had fastened the exquisite roses , noting the perfect harmony of her costume , as she smoothed the folds of the sapphire velvet robe which she knew that Mr. Dunbar particularly admired .