midnight
Poor Mary felt the bitterness and anguish of a deserted wife ; but she upbraided him not -- she spoke not of her sorrows . Health forsook her cheeks , and gladness had fled from her spirit ; yet as she nightly sat hour after hour waiting his return , as he entered , she welcomed him with a smile , which not unfrequently was met with an imprecation or a frown . They had been married about two years . Mary was a mother , and oft at midnight she would sit weeping over the cradle of her child , mourning in secret for its thoughtless father . It was her birth-day , her father had come to London to visit them ; she had not told him of her sorrows , and she had invited a few friends to dine with them . They had assembled ; but Adam was still absent . He had been unkind to her ; but this was an unkindness she did not expect from him .