noon
It was the very plainest raiment . For doublet I wore a buff brigandine , quilted and dagger-proof , and caught at the waist by a girdle of hammered steel ; my wine-coloured hose was stout and serviceable , as were my long boots of untanned leather . Yet prouder was I of this sober apparel than ever king of his ermine . It may have been an hour or so past noon when , at last , my solitude was invaded by a soldier who came to order me into the presence of the Governor . I had been sitting at the window , leaning against the bars and looking out at the desolate white landscape , for there had been a heavy fall of snow in the night , which reminded me -- as snow ever did -- of my first meeting with Madonna Paola . I rose upon the instant , and my fears rose with me . But I kept a bold front as I went down into the hall , where Ramiro and the blackguards of his Court were sitting , with three or four men-at-arms at attention by the door .