midnight
For herself she resolutely refused to take a shilling more than was due for my lodging , but I succeeded in forcing her acceptance of a matter of twenty pounds , the last of my own money , not Lady Jane 's , to be used for the boy . She stood beside me silent and unmoved while I kissed him in his sleep , and when I parted from her she said , `` Good-bye , Captain Geraldine , '' with a composure I fain would have assumed myself , but it was impossible . The supper at Lady Jane 's was gay enough , even the Vicomte contributing his modicum of entertainment , no doubt stimulated thereto by the thought of my near departure , and surely , when a man may give pleasure by his goings as well as by his comings , he is in a position to be envied . I sang Jacobite songs that evening with an expression that would have carried conviction to the Duke of Cumberland himself , and when I took my departure with the Vicomte after midnight , I left a veritable hot-bed of sedition behind . My companion , though outwardly civil , took my little pleasantries with so ill a grace that I was in a measure prepared for his words at our parting before the coach-office . `` Chevalier , you are a man of many charming parts ; I trust you will long be spared to exercise them in quarters where they may fail to give offence to any one . '' `` My dear Vicomte , '' I replied , `` Providence has bestowed on me only my poor talents , but has not granted me the power to provide appreciation in others .