noon
`` Tonight I am only a bit ` off colour , ' as Tommy says , '' and she tried to smile . `` I 'll send a message down to the _ dhobi _ to get your wash ready by noon tomorrow . At these times one realises how infinitely more convenient is a _ dhobi _ than an English Laundry Company , '' and Mrs. Bright bustled away that she might lose no time in letting the washerman know what was expected of him . Though the laundry had been taken away that very morning , she had not the slightest doubt that the task would be completed to perfection before noon , for she knew the laundryman of India to be as remarkable in his line as the Indian cook is in his . The following evening , Honor left Muktiarbad station , with the faithful Tommy to see her off in the train ; and her mother was there to give her a last hug and sundry forgotten injunctions at the eleventh hour . `` Mind you telegraph on your arrival -- and do n't forget to wear a woollen vest next to your skin . It is so necessary to ward off colds .