noon
As for serving Mass , it had been a second nature to him , and even now he could rattle off the responses without a mistake , from the first ` sicut erat in principio ' to the last ` Deo gratias ' after the Second Gospel . Trombin and Gambardella did not discuss the situation until this highly accomplished servant of theirs had accompanied them to the dining-room , to push their chairs under them as they sat down , and to assure himself that the table-cloth was spotless and the glasses not only clean but polished . Then he left them to their dinner , which , as he well knew , would last at least two hours . The dining-room was spacious and airy , having two large grated windows that overlooked the square , and there were several small tables besides the long one at which the ` ordinary ' was served every day at noon . The Bravi were now the only guests , and were installed near one of the windows , for the day was warm . From the middle of the vaulted ceiling a huge bunch of fresh green ferns was hung , not as a substitute for flowers , but to attract and stupefy the stray flies that found their way in from the kitchen , even at that early season of the year . Trombin was the first to speak , after the preliminary appetisers had been placed on the table and the glasses had been filled .