midnight
And now the peeping light indiscreetly penetrated to the hem of a silken garment revealed by some disarrangement of the civet fur . To the eye of an experienced observer , had such an observer been present in Henry Leroux 's study , this billow of silk and lace behind the sheltering fur must have proclaimed itself the edge of a night-robe , just as the ankle beneath had proclaimed itself to Henry Leroux 's shocked susceptibilities to be innocent of stocking . Thirty seconds were wanted to complete the cycle of the day , when one of the listless hands thrown across the back of the chesterfield opened and closed spasmodically . The fur at the bosom of the midnight visitor began rapidly to rise and fall . Then , with a choking cry , the woman struggled upright ; her hair , hastily dressed , burst free of its bindings and poured in gleaming cascade down about her shoulders . Clutching with one hand at her cloak in order to keep it wrapped about her , and holding the other blindly before her , she rose , and with that same odd , groping movement , began to approach the writing-table . The pupils of her eyes were mere pin-points now ; she shuddered convulsively , and her skin was dewed with perspiration .