midnight
But instead of being translated to the earthly paradise of a beautiful woman 's favour , Edward , to his own great disappointment and chagrin , found himself in a very different atmosphere . Helene was cold , nearly silent , utterly indifferent . She was looking unusually well . The rich harmonious contrasts of face and hair -- the midnight darkness of the one breaking into the radiant dawn of the other -- never before impressed him so vividly . But she was terribly distant . The young man assured himself rather bitterly that if she were a thousand miles off she could not have been more oblivious of his presence . She was alluring even in her indifference , graceful , elegant , angelic -- but an angel carved in ice .