noon
In scheming to avoid the loss of five shillings she had wrecked all her peace and comfort . On this Sunday she would have liked to go to church , but a dread of loquacious and inquisitive neighbors kept her a prisoner in the house . On Monday morning she almost determined to go out for a walk but her courage again failed her . Until noon the village street was dull and lifeless , with only one or two people visible at a time , and yet she dared not go down and walk through it . Were she to show herself , all the idle shopkeepers would issue from their shops , to congratulate her on the postmaster 's victory , to inquire where he was spending his holiday and why she had n't gone for the holiday with him . Nearly all day she sat by the window of the front room , staring at the trite and familiar scene , and encouraging her thoughts to wander away from her misery whenever they would consent to do so . A butcher 's boy leaned his bicycle against the curbstone in so careless a fashion that it immediately fell down ; Mr. Bates the corn merchant passed by with an empty wagon ; then Mr. Norton the vicar appeared , going from house to house , distributing handbills of special services .