midday
CHAPTER XVII . At Death 's Door Sorrow and wrong are pangs of a new birth ; All we who suffer bleed for one another ; No life may live alone , but all in all ; We lie within the tomb of our dead selves , Waiting till One command us to arise . Hon. Boden Noel . Knowing that Erica would have a very anxious afternoon , Charles Osmond gave up his brief midday rest , snatched a hasty lunch at a third-rate restaurant , finished his parish visits sooner than usual , and reached the little house in Guilford Terrace in time to share the worst part of her waiting . He found her hard at work as usual , her table strewn with papers and books of reference . Raeburn had purposely left her some work to do for him which he knew would fully occupy her ; but the mere fact that she knew he had done it on purpose to engross her mind with other matters entirely prevented her from giving it her full attention . She had never felt more thankful to see Charles Osmond than at that moment .