noon
You WILL pardon me , my darling , will you not ? There , there , that 's a dear , '' and she took from her handkerchief a cornet of pink paper containing two little cakes and a grape , and offered it me with a trembling hand . I could not look the kind old woman in the face , but , turning aside , took the paper , while my tears flowed the faster -- though from love and shame now , not from anger . ON the day after the events described , the carriage and the luggage-cart drew up to the door at noon . Nicola , dressed for the journey , with his breeches tucked into his boots and an old overcoat belted tightly about him with a girdle , got into the cart and arranged cloaks and cushions on the seats . When he thought that they were piled high enough he sat down on them , but finding them still unsatisfactory , jumped up and arranged them once more . `` Nicola Dimitvitch , would you be so good as to take master 's dressing-case with you ? ''