noon
`` I am going home ; and , if you are not there by to-morrow at noon '' -- She said no more , but looked a great deal . Then she departed , and refused him her hand at parting . `` We will see about that by and by , '' said she . At noon my lord came down to the farm , and , unfortunately for Phoebe , played the penitent so skilfully for about a month , that she forgave him , and loved him all the more for having so nearly parted with him . Her peace was not to endure long . He was detected in an intrigue in the very village . The insult struck so home that Phoebe herself , to her parents ' satisfaction , ordered him out of the house at once .