midnight
The amorous adventures of their black servants have come to be accepted by Southern housekeepers with unenquiring philosophy . `` But why was she coming to the house at this hour ? '' she wondered further . The negroes had their quarters well at the back , and no one slept in the `` great house '' with Kate and her daughters , except the housewoman , Ella , too elderly for midnight adventure , and Mag Henderson , who with her baby occupied a room in the guest-wing , under the Madam 's immediate supervision . She listened acutely . Her bedroom door rattled a little in the draught of another door which opened and closed . She heard an unmistakable creaking of the back stairs that led to a hall behind her room and the girls ' rooms , and which also led to the guest-wing .