midnight
She knew that he would not stay at Nanna Sinclair 's , and she had prepared the room of her absent son for him . `` If he can pay one shilling a day , it will be a godsend to me , '' she thought ; and when she told David so he answered , `` That is a little matter , and no doubt there will be good between us . '' He saw then that the window was open , and the sea-water lippering nearly to the sill of it ; and he took off his bonnet , and sat down , and let the cool breeze blow upon his hot brow . It was near midnight , but what then ? David had never been more awake in all his life -- yes , awake to his finger-tips . Yet for half an hour he sat by the window and never opened his mouth ; and Barbara sat on the hearth , and raked the smoldering peats together , and kept a like silence . She was well used to talk with her own thoughts , and to utter words was no necessity to Barbara Traill ; but she knew what David was thinking of , and she was quite prepared for the first word which parted his set lips .