midnight
Into this secluded spot the moon , high in the heavens , shone with unclouded radiance , so that he saw , as clearly as though ` twere noonday , Madame de St. André standing at the edge of the basin , her lips white and parted in fear , one hand pressed against her throat , the other held roughly in the grasp of Monsieur de St. Aulaire , who knelt before her , his lute fallen at his side . The rose which she had worn in her hair had escaped from its diamond loop and lay upon the ground ; the delicate gaze d'or of her dress was torn and crushed . For an instant Calvert stood in the shadow of one of the Grecian columns and looked at the scene before him in sick amazement . So it was to Adrienne that St. Aulaire was singing love-songs in this isolated spot at midnight ! As he hesitated , Monsieur de St. Aulaire rose from his knees . `` You did not always treat me with such contempt , Madame , '' he said , with a mocking laugh , `` and by God , I have no mind to stand it now , '' and , putting one arm around her quivering shoulders and crushing in his the hand with which she would have pushed him from her , he leaned lightly over to kiss her . As he did so , Calvert stepped quietly forward -LRB- 't was wonderful how , though he always seemed to move slowly , he was ever in the right place at the right time -RRB- and , seizing St. Aulaire by the collar , hurled him backward with such force that he fell heavily against one of the gleaming marble columns and lay , for an instant , stunned and motionless .