midnight
Aunt Lisbeth was a great proficient in the art , and had taught Margarita . The little lady learnt it , with many other gruesome matters , in the Palatine of Bohemia 's family . She usually talked of the spectres of Hollenbogenblitz Castle in the passing of the threads . Those were dismal spectres in Bohemia , smelling of murder and the charnel-breath of midnight . They uttered noises that wintered the blood , and revealed sights that stiffened hair three feet long ; ay , and kept it stiff ! Margarita placed herself on a settle by the low-arched window , and Aunt Lisbeth sat facing her . An evening sun blazoned the buttresses of the Cathedral , and shadowed the workframes of the peaceful couple to a temperate light .