midnight
`` I fear he has lost large sums ; and our property , always small , is dwindling away under this reckless dissipation . I heard of him in London with very wild company . Since his return , letters and lawyers are constantly coming and going : he seems to me to have a constant anxiety , though he hides it under boisterousness and laughter . I looked through -- through the door last night , and -- and before , '' said my lady , `` and saw them at cards after midnight ; no estate will bear that extravagance , much less ours , which will be so diminished that my son will have nothing at all , and my poor Beatrix no portion ! '' `` I wish I could help you , madam , '' said Harry Esmond , sighing , and wishing that unavailingly , and for the thousandth time in his life . `` Who can ? Only God , '' said Lady Esmond -- `` only God , in whose hands we are . ''