nearly midnight
Could every motive and every act change form and color as you looked at it , and be now the counsel of Heaven , and now the prompting of Satan ? How , then , could a man choose his path ? In his bewilderment the darkness closed round him , and he groaned aloud . It was late now , nearly midnight , and the house was quiet . Stafford walked to the open window and leant out , bending his tired head upon his hand . As he looked out he saw through the darkness Eugene and Ayre still sitting on the terrace . Ayre was talking .