midnight
What a wonderful thing it was anyway to be a woman and be loved ! Then her dreams blended again with the soft perfume of the honeysuckle at the window , and the hooting of a young owl . The moon dropped lower , the bright stars paled , dawn stole up through the edges of the woods far away and awakened a day that was to bring a strange transformation over Marcia 's life . As a natural consequence of her hard work and her midnight awakening , Marcia overslept the next morning . Her stepmother called her sharply and she dressed in haste , not even taking time to glance toward the new folds of chintz that drew her thoughts closetward . She dared not say anything about it yet . There was much to be done , and not even Kate had time for an idle word with her .