midnight
and he left us laughing , much comforted in his trouble . Though never out of the sight and sound of war , we had so far suffered but little in the city itself . We watched with curiosity the English intrenching themselves on the opposite heights of the Pointe de Lévy , and there was much speculation among us as to their object . That the city would be bombarded was scouted as ridiculous ; but one midnight towards the end of June we were awakened by the heavy booming of artillery , and rushed to our windows to see the heights of the Lévy shore flashing with the explosions from the cannon , and the hill beneath us filled with a panting , terror-stricken crowd , laden with every conceivable description of household goods , clambering up past us to gain some corner of safety , while the flames from a shattered warehouse in the Basse Ville threw an ominous glare over the blackness of the river . War in its most terrifying guise was at our very doors , and had it not been for the heroic calmness of Mme. de Sarennes , we should probably have joined the distracted crowd in the streets . While affrighted women and children , and even men , rushed past in the wildness of their terror , filling the night with the clamour of despair , and exposing themselves to still greater dangers in their efforts to escape , she gathered her little household about her and set fear at defiance . Dressed with her usual care , she sate in the drawing-room with all the candles lighted , the shutters closed , and the curtains tightly drawn .