noon
Instead of praising his exploit , he had been indignantly requested to remove the poor , easily killed victims from her presence ; and , wounded and disappointed , he had retired to his magnificent Nile boat , where , spent by his sleepless night , he slumbered so soundly on his soft cushions that he did not appear at the breakfast which the gray-haired commander of Pelusium had invited him to attend on his galley . While the others were still feasting there , Daphne was enjoying an hour alone with her companion Chrysilla . She had remained absent from Philippus 's banquet , and her pale cheeks showed the ill effects produced by the excitement of the previous night . A little before noon Hermon came to see her . He , too , had not gone to the Pelusinian 's breakfast . After Althea had left him the evening before he went directly back to the white house , and , instead of going to rest , devoted himself to Myrtilus ; for the difficulty of breathing , which during his industrious life in quiet seclusion had not troubled him for several months , attacked him with twofold violence after the gaiety of the previous night . Hermon had not left him an instant until day brought the sufferer relief , and he no longer needed the supporting hand of his kind nurse .