the midday sun
Would not a more rigorous inquiry , a little patient investigation into so curious a coincidence , have been the more seemly part , as much for his friend 's sake as for Eve 's , so that this haunting , intolerable doubt might have been for ever put away -- as surely it would have been ? The contrary issue was too horrible for supposition . And he ended by mocking at himself with a half-sigh for carrying fastidiousness so far , recognising the mundane fitness of the match , and that heroic lovers , such as his tenderness for the damsel would have had , are , after all , rare , perhaps hardly existing out of visions in a somewhat gross world , where the finest ore is not without its considerable alloy . Two days later , as he sat upon his wonted seat , in lazy enjoyment of the midday sun , a _ vetturino _ , heralded far down the road by the jingle of his horse 's bells , deposited a couple at the door whose faces were familiar . At _ table d'hôte _ , though he was separated from the new-comers by half a dozen covers , he had leisure to identify them as the Dollonds ; and by-and-by the roving , impartial gaze of the Academician 's wife encountering him , he could assure himself that the recognition was mutual . They came together at the end of _ déjeuner _ , and presently , at Mrs. Dollond 's instigation , started for a stroll through the olives towards the old town . `` Are you wintering here ? ''