midday
Already he was dreading the day when he must mount his horse and ride back into the turbulent life from which she had for a time , snatched him . `` I 'll hate to go back to sheepherding , '' he told her one day at lunch , looking at her across a snow-white tablecloth upon which were a service of shining silver , fragile china teacups and plates stamped Limoges . He was at the moment buttering a delicious French roll and she was daintily pouring tea from an old family heirloom . The contrast between this and the dust and the grease of a midday meal at the end of a `` chuck wagon '' lent accent to his smiling lamentation . `` A lot of sheepherding you do , '' she derided . `` A shepherd has to look after his sheep , y' u know . '' `` You herd sheep just about as much as I punch cows . ''