midnight
Without a pause he began to descend , and she counted his footsteps with a wildly beating heart till they ceased in the room below . She was alone . In a silence intense she lifted her head at last , and knew that for half an hour she was safe from interruption . Far away over the snow she heard a distant church clock tolling midnight . It ceased , and in the silence she thought she heard her stretched nerves cracking one by one . Soon -- very soon -- she would have to go down to him and fight the final battle for her freedom . But she would wait till the very last minute .