noon
It was a relief ; I had been wanting to say it ever since we had first met . His jaw shot out menacingly , and for an instant he squared off from me with the look of the professional boxer ; but , rather to my disappointment , he thought better of it and turned a contemptuous back . Upon leaving Genoa I had reserved a room at the Ritz by telegraph . I drove there now , and refreshed myself with a bath and breakfast , casting about me meanwhile for some mode of occupying the hours till noon . There were various tasks , I knew , that should have claimed me ; a visit to the police to secure a _ carte de sejour _ , the presentation of my credentials as an ambulance-driver , a polite notification to friends that I had arrived . These things should have been my duty and pleasure , but somehow they were uninviting . Nothing appealed to me , I realized with sudden enlightenment , except a certain appointment that I had already made .