midnight
One night Brandon was returning home on foot from a ministerial dinner . The night was frosty and clear , the hour was late , and his way lay through the longest and best-lighted streets of the metropolis . He was , as usual , buried in thought , when he was suddenly aroused from his revery by a light touch laid on his arm . He turned , and saw one of the unhappy persons who haunt the midnight streets of cities , standing right before his path . The gaze of each fell upon the other ; and it was thus , for the first time since they laid their heads on the same pillow , that the husband met the wife . The skies were intensely clear , and the lamplight was bright and calm upon the faces of both . There was no doubt in the mind of either .