midnight
In love herself , so far as such a woman could ever be in love at all , with the dashing and brainless jockey who managed her race-horses , she was quite accustomed , none the less , to add the passionate confessions and gold-sick protestations of others to her volume of amatory recollections , and it was not a little amazing that a mere youth should be discovered , so obstinate , so chilly and so indifferent as to remain insensible both to her charms and their value , in what her father had called `` pounds sterling . '' When Alban first came to `` Five Gables , '' his honesty amused her greatly . She liked to hear him speak of the good which her father 's money could do in the slums and alleys he had left . It was a rare entertainment for her to be told of those `` dreadful people '' who sewed shirts all day and were frequently engaged in the same occupation when midnight came . `` I shall call you the Missionary , '' she had said , and would sit at his feet while he confessed some of the wild hopes which animated him , or justified his desire for that great humanity of the East whose supreme human need was sympathy . Anna herself did not understand a word of it -- but she liked to have those clear blue eyes fixed upon her , to hear the soft musical voice and to wonder when this pretty boy would speak of his love for her . But the weeks passed and no word of love was spoken , and the woman in her began to ask why this should be .