midnight
Yes , I will pray for your unhappy child ; yes , I will say the masses . But we must avoid all scandal , and give no opportunity for evil-judging persons to assemble in the church . I alone , without other clergy , at night -- '' `` Yes , yes , as you think best ; if only he may lie in consecrated ground , '' said the poor mother , taking the priest 's hand and kissing it . Toward midnight a coffin was clandestinely borne to the parish church by four young men , comrades whom Athanase had liked the best . A few friends of Madame Granson , women dressed in black , and veiled , were present ; and half a dozen other young men who had been somewhat intimate with this lost genius . Four torches flickered on the coffin , which was covered with crape . The rector , assisted by one discreet choirboy , said the mortuary mass .