midnight
One or two people sang songs , as overtures to the melody of the morrow , till at length bedtime came , and they all withdrew , her mother having retired a little earlier . When Baptista found herself again alone in her bedroom the case stood as before : she had come home with much to say , and she had said nothing . It was now growing clear even to herself that Charles being dead , she had not determination sufficient within her to break tidings which , had he been alive , would have imperatively announced themselves . And thus with the stroke of midnight came the turning of the scale ; her story should remain untold . It was not that upon the whole she thought it best not to attempt to tell it ; but that she could not undertake so explosive a matter . To stop the wedding now would cause a convulsion in Giant 's Town little short of volcanic . Weakened , tired , and terrified as she had been by the day 's adventures , she could not make herself the author of such a catastrophe .