midnight
Meanwhile Welbeck stood , leaning his arms on the back of a chair near her , with his eyes fixed on her face . His features were fraught with a meaning which I was eager to interpret , but unable . I have read of transitions effected by magic ; I have read of palaces and deserts which were subject to the dominion of spells ; poets may sport with their power , but I am certain that no transition was ever conceived more marvellous and more beyond the reach of foresight than that which I had just experienced . Heaths vexed by a midnight storm may be changed into a hall of choral nymphs and regal banqueting ; forest glades may give sudden place to colonnades and carnivals ; but he whose senses are deluded finds himself still on his natal earth . These miracles are contemptible when compared with that which placed me under this roof and gave me to partake in this audience . I know that my emotions are in danger of being regarded as ludicrous by those who can not figure to themselves the consequences of a limited and rustic education . In a short time the lady retired .