midnight before
She is still of great beauty ; but at that time she was a wonder of loveliness . Slender , graceful , with a figure exquisitely shaped ; with rosy lips as artless as an infant 's ; grand dark eyes which seemed to burn with an inner light as she looked at you ; such was _ Miss Mortimer _ at eighteen , when I first saw her on that night in the Fonthill woods . '' `` An hour after the scene which I have tried to describe , I was at home ; and , seated in this apartment , then very different in appearance , reflected deeply upon this romantic encounter with the beautiful girl . `` It was midnight before I retired . I fell asleep thinking of her , and the exquisite face still followed me in my dreams . `` These few words tell you much , do they not , Surry ? You no doubt begin to understand , now , when I have scarcely begun the real narrative , what is going to be the character of the drama .