midnight
Mr. Pole fumbled in his pocket , muttering , `` No money here -- cheque-book in town . I 'll give it you , '' he said aloud , `` to-morrow morning -- morrow morning , early . '' `` That will do , papa ; '' and Adela relieved him immediately by shooting far away from the topic . The ladies retired early to their hall of council in the bedchamber of Arabella , and some time after midnight Cornelia went to her room ; but she could not sleep . She affected , in her restlessness , to think that her spirits required an intellectual sedative , so she went down to the library for a book ; where she skimmed many -- a fashion that may be recommended , for assisting us to a sense of sovereign superiority to authors , and also of serene contempt for all mental difficulties . Fortified in this way , Cornelia took a Plutarch and an Encyclopaedia under her arm , to return to her room . But one volume fell , and as she stooped to recover it , her candle shared its fate .