noon
This in a measure was the result of her home-training , for her family , though far from being rich , were very aristocratic , and strove to keep their children as much as possible from associating with the `` vulgar herd , '' as they styled the laboring class of the community . In her secret heart Cora had long cherished a preference for Walter , though never , until the morning of which I write , had it been so openly avowed . And Walter , too , while knowing how far above him she was in point of position , had dared to dream of a time when a bright-haired woman , with a face much like that of the girlish Cora , would gladden his home , wherever it might be . That noon , as we sat around the glowing stove , we played as children will , and it came my turn to `` answer truly whom I intended to marry . '' Without a thought of the big apple , the snowy socks , or of any one in particular , I replied unhesitatingly -- `` The one I love best , '' and the question passed on to Cora , who was sitting by the side of Walter Beaumont . He had not joined in our sport , but now his eye left his book and rested upon Cora with an expression half fearful , half expectant . She , too , glanced at him , and as if the spirit of prophecy were upon her , she said -- `` I shall not marry the one I love the best , but the one who has the most money , and can give me the handsomest _ diamonds _ .