noon
he breathed in spite of himself . `` Why , St. George , if we can leave this island alive -- '' `` Well , _ you _ wo n't , '' St. George explained , with brutal directness , `` unless you can cut that . '' Before silence had again fallen , the prime minister , all his fever of importance still upon him , once more faced the audience . This time his words came to St. George like a thunderbolt : `` In three days ' time , at noon , in this the Hall of Kings , '' he cried , letting each phrase fall as if he were its proud inventor , `` immediately following the official recognition of Olivia , daughter of Otho I , as Hereditary Princess of Yaque , there will be solemnized , according to the immemorial tradition of the island last observed six hundred and eighty-four years ago by Queen Pentellaria , the marriage of Olivia of Yaque , to his Highness , Prince Tabnit , head of the House of the Litany , and chief administrator of justice . _ For the law prescribes that no unmarried woman shall sit upon the throne of Yaque . _ At noon of the third day will be observed the double ceremony of the recognition and the marriage . May the gods permit the possible . ''