the noon of night
The master of a felucca who , in consequence of the squall had put in at Lerici , and in the evening dropped down to Spezzia , had met an open boat an hour before he reached Sarzana , and was quite confident that , if it had put into port , it must have been , from the speed at which it was going , a great distance down the coast . No wrecks had been heard of in the neighbourhood . This intelligence , the gladsome time of day , and the non-arrival of Captain Cadurcis , which according to their mood was always a circumstance that counted either for good or for evil , and the sanguine feelings which make us always cling to hope , altogether reassured our friends . Venetia dismissed from her mind the dark thought which for a moment had haunted her in the noon of night ; and still it was a suspense , a painful , agitating suspense , but only suspense that yet influenced them . ` Time ! said Lady Annabel . ` Time !