noon
`` Why not ? Myself , Elaine , and this foolish quest of mine ! '' _ _ Then , for a space , there was silence upon the road , since the fool , with his writing tablet , had dropped back to the rear of the company , and the gallant knights , perceiving the mood of their mistress , spoke not . _ _ At noon , when the white sun trembled at the zenith , Le Jongleur urged his donkey forward , and presented to Elaine a glorious rose which he had found blooming at the wayside . _ _ `` The poem is finished , your highness , '' he breathed , doffing his cap , `` but 't is all unworthy , so I bring thee this rose also , that something in my offering may of a certainty be sweet . '' _ _ He would have put the scroll into her hand , but she swerved her palfrey aside . `` Read it , '' she said , impatiently ; `` I have no mind to try my wits with thy poor scrawls . ''