noon
But , laughably , neither of these things had happened . He forgot that he had in him the beginnings of a great painter in remembering that he had shown the obtuseness of an ass . He did not see Electra that night . After the noon dinner he left Rose and grannie intimately together , -- the girl , with a gentle deprecation , as if she brought gifts not in themselves worth much , talking about Paris , the air young Peter had been breathing , -- and betook himself again to Electra 's house . It was all open to the day , but no one answered his knock . He went in and wandered from parlor to library , the dignified rooms that had once seemed to him so typical of her estate as compared to his own : for in those days he had been only a young man of genius with scarcely enough money to live and study on , save as his brother earned it for him . He sauntered in and out for an hour -- it seemed as if even the two servants had gone -- and then played snatches at the piano , to waken drowsy ears .