midday
He never inflicted unnecessary punishment but when it was deserved he was relentless in its execution . What hope could a poor mother have against the weight of his authority . Fortunately the morning was rapidly wearing on . The hour for the midday rest was close at hand . Menecreta could watch , with a glad thrill in her heart , one likely purchaser after another being borne in gorgeously draped litter away from this scene of a mother 's cruel anxiety . Already the ladies had withdrawn . Now there was only a group of men left around the rostrum ; Hortensius Martius still lounging aimlessly , young Escanes who had not yet found the paragon amongst cooks , and a few others who eyed the final proceedings with the fashionable expression of boredom .