noon
If I persuaded Mrs. Dalziel to take me , and we had the luck to see Tony , I should n't have a moment with him alone , whereas the process of `` wheedling '' might take many minutes . The only thing to do was to wait , and that was the hardest task ever given me . I shall not forget that day even if I live to be an old woman ; and looking back on it now over the months which have passed since -- months which seem longer than all the rest of my life put together -- I believe that my very character took on some change in those hours , as metal is changed if you throw it on to the fire . I felt for the first time that I was a woman , with all the childishness burnt out of me ; and I was glad , for I might have to do battle with those who were older and wiser than I. Mrs. Dalziel and Milly did n't appear till noon ; but meanwhile I went down and talked to a great many people in the hotel , people whom I did n't know . After the excitement of the night , everybody chattered and exchanged impressions with everybody else , without stopping to think or care whether they had been introduced to each other . A few of the men had a vague idea that something was being `` hushed up , '' but none could guess what it was , and nobody knew anything about Captain March . Naturally I did n't tell what I had been told : that he was under arrest .