noon
On the afternoon previous to the wedding , the mother sat on the verandah overlooking the velvet lawn that stretched between the house and the river . The sun was setting , and the rich red glow rested upon the crest of distant hills , and smote the sails of two vessels gliding close to the opposite shore . On the stone step sat Regina , her head leaning against her mother 's knee , her hand half buried in the snowy locks of Hero , who crouched at her side . `` Mrs. Palma and Uncle Orme will not arrive until noon ; but Olga comes early to-morrow ; and , mother , I know you will be glad to learn that at last her brother has persuaded her to abandon her intention of joining the -- '' She did not complete the sentence , for glancing up , she saw that Mrs. Laurance 's melancholy eyes were fixed on the crimson sky and purpling hills far away , and she knew that her thoughts were haunting grey , ashy crypts of the Bygone . For some moments silence prevailed , and mother and child presented a singular contrast . The former was clad in some violet-coloured fabric , and her wealth of golden hair was brushed smoothly back and twisted into a loose knot , where her daughter 's fingers had inserted a moss rose with clustering buds and glossy leaves . The girl wore a simple white muslin , high in the throat , where a quilling of soft lace was secured by a bunch of lemon blooms and violets ; and around her coil of jet hair twined a long spray of Arabian jasmine that drooped almost to her shoulder .