midnight
`` I rely on you , mistress , and on Endicott 's undoubted talents to bring this last matter to a successful issue to-night . ... Remember , mistress ... I rely on you . '' Perhaps Mistress Endicott would have liked to prolong the argument . As a matter of fact , neither she nor her husband counted the risks of a midnight fracas of great moment to themselves : they had so very little to lose . A precarious existence based on illicit deeds of all sorts had rendered them hard and reckless . All they wished was to be well paid for the risks they ran ; neither of them was wholly unacquainted with the pillory , and it held no great terrors for them . There were so many unavowable pleasures these days , which required a human cloak to cover the identity of the real transgressor , that people like Master and Mistress Endicott prospered vastly .