noon
Next morning the woman Jane Mell brought her better garments to wear , of her best indeed , and , though she wondered why they were sent , for the lack of anything else to do she arrayed herself in them , and braided her hair with the help of a silver mirror that was among the garments . A little later this woman appeared again , bearing not bread and water , but good food and a cup of wine . The food she ate with thankfulness , but the wine she would not drink , because she knew that it was French and had heard Acour praise it . The morning wore away to noon , and again the door opened and there stood before her -- Sir Edmund Acour himself , gallantly dressed , as she noticed vaguely , in close-fitting tunic of velvet , long shoes that turned up at the toes and a cap in which was set a single nodding plume . She rose from her stool and set her back against the wall with a prayer to God in her heart , but no word upon her lips , for she felt that her best refuge was silence . He drew the cap from his head , and began to speak . `` Lady , '' he said , `` you will wonder to see me here after my letter to you , bidding you farewell , but you will remember that in this letter I wrote that Fate might bring us together again , and it has done so through no fault or wish of mine .