midnight
There were no more violent quarrels between Pascal and Clotilde . The doors were no longer slammed . Voices raised in dispute no longer obliged Martine to go continually upstairs to listen outside the door . They scarcely spoke to each other now ; and not a single word had been exchanged between them regarding the midnight scene , although weeks had passed since it had taken place . He , through an inexplicable scruple , a strange delicacy of which he was not himself conscious , did not wish to renew the conversation , and to demand the answer which he expected -- a promise of faith in him and of submission . She , after the great moral shock which had completely transformed her , still reflected , hesitated , struggled , fighting against herself , putting off her decision in order not to surrender , in her instinctive rebelliousness . And the misunderstanding continued , in the midst of the mournful silence of the miserable house , where there was no longer any happiness .