midnight
You know not his motives , his horrors ------ '' `` His deeds were monstrous and infernal . His motives were sordid and flagitious . To display all their ugliness and infamy was not his province . No ; he did not tell you that he stole at midnight to the chamber of his mistress ; a woman who astonished the world by her loftiness and magnanimity , by indefatigable beneficence and unswerving equity ; who had lavished on this wretch , whom she snatched from the dirt , all the goods of fortune , all the benefits of education ; all the treasures of love ; every provocation to gratitude ; every stimulant to justice . `` He did not tell you that , in recompense for every benefit , he stole upon her sleep and aimed a dagger at her breast . There was no room for flight , or ambiguity , or prevarication . She whom he meant to murder stood near , saw the lifted weapon , and heard him confess and glory in his purposes .