nearly midnight
In his turn he described to her in his slow deliberate way , how his father constantly scolded him because he was not bright , and did not care for politics and newspapers , and how his mother wounded him with her sharp tongue by making merry with him , even in the presence of the servants and strangers . He did not seem to imagine that there was anything wrong in what he said , or that he placed himself in a ludicrous light ; nor did he seem to speak from any unmanly craving for sympathy . His manner was so simple and straightforward that what Brita probably would have found strange in another , she found perfectly natural in him . It was nearly midnight when they parted -LCB- . -RCB- She hardly slept at all that night , and she was half vexed with herself for the interest she took in this simple youth . The next morning her father came up to pay her a visit and to see how the flocks were thriving . She understood that it would be dangerous to say anything to him about Halvard , for she knew his temper and feared the result , if he should ever discover her secret .