midnight
He confessed with frankness that he had secretly desired this money that he might be in a position to gain Berenice . He pleaded with himself that he did not mean to abandon the priesthood ; that he had simply discovered that he had not a vocation for the existence he had contemplated . He tried to see some way in which he might gain the end he desired without giving up the faith he professed ; and in the end he succeeded only in getting his mind into a confusion so great that it seemed impossible to think of anything clearly . He had an errand at Mrs. Wilson 's on Shrove Tuesday , and she invited him to accompany her to midnight service at the Church of the Nativity . When he repeated the request to Father Frontford , he was given permission to go . `` It is an unusual , and even an extraordinary request , '' the Superior said ; `` but Mrs. Wilson is so deeply interested in the welfare of the brotherhood that it is better to make a concession . What time are you to meet her ? ''