midnight
Night-nursing was no longer a necessity ; and with the relief from anxiety , from the effort to meet the demands upon her small stock of strength , came the inevitable drop to the comfortable commonplaces of everyday life . Nor was she alone in her sensations . In varying degrees they affected every inmate of the blue bungalow during that last week of Desmond 's imprisonment ; and it is probable that Honor unconsciously relaxed her mental concentration upon Evelyn which had been responsible for more than either knew . Her midnight talk with Desmond , and the knowledge that a second contest lay before her , gave her food for much troubled reflection ; while the comparative lightness of sick-room duties left her free to grapple with arrears of letters , work , and household accounts . Thus , being only human , and very much absorbed in matters practical , she made the fatal mistake of relaxing her vigilance at the very moment when Evelyn needed it most . But it is written that `` no man may redeem his brother '' ; and , soon or late the relapse must have come . Honor could not hope to lay permanent hold upon the volatile spirit of her friend .