late noon
She entered largely into the gay dissipation of the town , and her charms shared the celebrity of the hour with the verse of Petrarch . But though she frowned on none , none could claim the monopoly of her smiles . Her fair fame was as yet unblemished ; but if any might presume beyond the rest , she seemed to have selected rather from ambition than love , and Giles , the warlike Cardinal d'Albornoz , all powerful at the sacred court , already foreboded the hour of his triumph . It was late noon , and in the ante-chamber of the fair Signora waited two of that fraternity of pages , fair and richly clad , who , at that day , furnished the favourite attendants to rank of either sex . `` By my troth , '' cried one of these young servitors , pushing from him the dice with which himself and his companion had sought to beguile their leisure , `` this is but dull work ! and the best part of the day is gone . Our lady is late . ''