noon
`` There is , '' replied Malvoisin , `` among those who came hither with Bois-Guilbert , two fellows whom I well know ; servants they were to my brother Philip de Malvoisin , and passed from his service to that of Front-de-Boeuf -- It may be they know something of the witcheries of this woman . '' `` Away , seek them out instantly -- and hark thee , if a byzant or two will sharpen their memory , let them not be wanting . '' `` They would swear the mother that bore them a sorceress for a zecchin , '' said the Preceptor . `` Away , then , '' said Mont-Fitchet ; `` at noon the affair will proceed . I have not seen our senior in such earnest preparation since he condemned to the stake Hamet Alfagi , a convert who relapsed to the Moslem faith . '' The ponderous castle-bell had tolled the point of noon , when Rebecca heard a trampling of feet upon the private stair which led to her place of confinement . The noise announced the arrival of several persons , and the circumstance rather gave her joy ; for she was more afraid of the solitary visits of the fierce and passionate Bois-Guilbert than of any evil that could befall her besides .