midnight
Jane did not go ; I was afraid to trust her . She wept , and , with difficulty , forced herself to say something about a headache , but the rest of the inmates of the castle of course had no thought that possibly they were taking their last look upon Mary Tudor . Think who this girl was we were running away with ! What reckless fools we were not to have seen the utter hopelessness , certain failure , and deadly peril of our act ; treason black as Plutonian midnight . But Providence seems to have an especial care for fools , while wise men are left to care for themselves , and it does look as if safety lies in folly . We rode on and on , and although I took two occasions , in the presence of others , to urge Mary to return , owing to the approach of night and threatened rain , she took her own head , as everybody knew she always would , and continued the hunt . Just before dark , as we neared the rendezvous , Mary and I managed to ride ahead of the party quite a distance .