nearly midnight
So they live rather quiet lives . On that May evening the mistress of the great house sits in her bed room by the mild electric , trying book after book , and putting each down in disgust . Philosophy fails to hold her attention -- poetry annoys her ; fiction -- the book of the moment , which happened to be `` The Damnation of Theron Ware , '' makes her wince , and so she reaches under the reading stand , and brings out from the bottom of a pile of magazines a salacious novel filled with stories of illicit amours . This she reads until her cheeks burn and her lips grow dry and she hears the roll of a buggy down the street , and knows that it must be nearly midnight and that her mate is coming . She slips the book back into its place of concealment , picks up `` The Harmonious Universe , '' and walks with some show of grandeur in her trailing garments down the stairs to greet her lord . `` You up ? '' he asks .