noon
It is not my part either to meddle or to judge in your affairs ; in these you shall take your sister 's counsel , which I can not doubt to be excellent . But in so far as concerns my own I will be no man 's prisoner , and I demand that key . ' Half an hour later my door was suddenly thrown open , and the key tossed ringing on the floor . A day or two after I came in from a walk a little before the point of noon . The Senora was lying lapped in slumber on the threshold of the recess ; the pigeons dozed below the eaves like snowdrifts ; the house was under a deep spell of noontide quiet ; and only a wandering and gentle wind from the mountain stole round the galleries , rustled among the pomegranates , and pleasantly stirred the shadows . Something in the stillness moved me to imitation , and I went very lightly across the court and up the marble staircase . My foot was on the topmost round , when a door opened , and I found myself face to face with Olalla .