noon
As they approached they read , carved into the marble architrave : AEDES TEMULENTI PERPETUI E PLURIBUS UNUM The little porch , under the marble columns , was cool and shady . A signboard said : Visiting Hours , Noon to Midnight . Quimbleton looked at his watch . `` It 's not noon yet , '' he said , `` but as we 're old friends I dare say he 'll be willing to see us . '' Pushing through a slatted swinging door of beautifully carved bronze , they found themselves in a charmingly furnished reference library . There were lounges and deep leather chairs , and ash trays for smokers . Quimbleton , who was something of a bookworm , ran his eye along the shelves .