midnight
It was midnight , and all the statues in the sculptor 's bare , white studio began to wake at the magic stroke which granted them a few hours of life . There was just a shimmer of movement in the dim corners . Marble limbs stirred , marble face turned slowly to gaze at marble face ; yet , as if they could be only half awakened in the shadows where the life-giving draught of moonlight might not flow , there was but the faintest flicker of white forms and draperies . It was the just finished statue of the girl which felt the full thrill of moonshine and midnight . She woke rapturously , and drained the silver moon-wine in her cup -LRB- the music told the story of her first thought and living heart-beat -RRB- : then down she stepped from the platform where the sculptor 's tools still lay , and began to dance for the other statues who watched in the dusk , hushed back into stillness under the new spell of her enchantments . Stephen had never seen anything like that dance . Many pretty _ premières danseuses _ he had admired and applauded , charming and clever young women of France , of Russia , of Italy , and Spain : and they had roused him and all London to enthusiasm over dances eccentric , original , exquisite , or wild .