midnight
None could have called him flatterer , but when he ceased to speak his hearers , feeling for themselves a higher esteem , had for him a reflex glow . It was what he could always count upon , and it furthered his fortunes . Now they crowded about him , and it was late before , pleading the fatigue of his journey , he could escape from their friendly importunity . At last , it being towards midnight and the moon riding high , the neighbouring planters and their guests got to saddle and , after many and pressing offers of hospitality to Rand and his wife , galloped off to home and bed . The commonalty and the hangers-on faded too into the darkness , and the folk who were sleeping at the inn took their candles and said good-night . All was suddenly quiet , -- a moonlit crossroads in Virginia , tranquil as the shaven fields and the endless columns of the pine . Upstairs , in the low `` best room , '' Rand found his wife still seated by the open window , her folded arms upon the sill , her eyes raised to the stars that shone despite the moon .