midnight
For it was great , argue with himself as he might . A dread for which he could not account often overshadowed him . It was caused perhaps by his constant memory of Faversham and Lydia on the terrace at Threlfall -- of the two faces turned to each other -- of the sudden fusion as it were of the two personalities in a common rush of memories , interests , and sympathies , in which he himself had no part ... . He put up his letter on the stroke of midnight , and then walked his room a while longer , struggling with himself and the passion of his desire ; praying that he might win her . Finally he took a well-worn Bible from a locked drawer , and read some verses from the Gospel of St. John , quieting himself . He never went to sleep without reading either a psalm or some portion of the New Testament . The influence of his Eton tutor had made him a Christian of a simple and convinced type ; and his mother 's agnosticism had never affected him .