midnight
And his thoughts added , `` And even if poor Maurice does die soon , I need fear nothing ! '' Now that their two fates seemed settled , Miss Delburg got out of the chair and stood up in a dignified way ; her soft cheeks were the color of a glowing pink rose , and her violet eyes shone with fun and excitement , her little , irregular features and perfect teeth seemed to add to the infantine aspect of the picture she made in her unfashionable pink cotton frock . Dress had been strongly discouraged at the Convent , and was looked upon by Aunt Jemima , a strict New Englander , as a snare of the devil , but even the garment , in the selecting of which she had had no hand , seemed to hang with grace upon the child 's slim figure . Not a doubt as to the future clouded her thoughts ; it was all a glorious piece of fun , and of all the daring tricks she had perpetrated at the Convent to get chocolates , or climb a tree , or have a midnight orgy of cake and sirop , none had been so exciting as this -- to go through the ceremony of marriage and be free for life ! Her education had been of the most elementary , and the whole aim of those placed over her had been to keep her as innocent and ignorant as a child of ten . Not a single problem of life had ever presented itself to her naturally intelligent mind . She had read no books , conversed with no grown-up people , played with no one but her companions , three American girls and a few French ones , and the simple Nuns .