midday
Already Gloria had the sensation of being by the world forgotten -- though for her the world could not be forgot . A ridge from which they looked out across the peaks and valleys seemed to her like an island , lost , remote , eternally set apart from other people whom she knew , from all her life as she had lived it . She went on and on and felt like one in a dream , journeying into a fierce , rugged land over which lay a spell of enchantment , a spell that had been cast over it before King 's all but immortal trees had burst from the seeds , so that now , while the outside world pulsed and beat with life , and swung back and forth with its pendulous progress , here all was unchanged , changeless . King led her , well before midday , to the spot in which from the first he had planned that they would noon . A forest pool ringed with boulders , which were green with moss under the splashing of the water from above , where the swaying pines mirrored themselves and shivered in the little breeze which ruffled the clear , cold water . Here was a tiny upland meadow and much rich grass ; here a sheltered spot where Gloria might sit in the sun and be protected from the colder air . He was quick to help her to dismount and noted that she came down stiffly ; the eyes which she turned to him were heavy with fatigue ; some of the rose flush had faded from her cheeks .