midnight
This is why these visits of mine trouble him . They might break the compact which secures repose and reputation to Mabel Harrington , for so much money -- and she is to triumph a second time ! I am nothing -- a weed , a bit of miserable night-shade that has poison in it , and nothing more . '' As she muttered over these thoughts , more and more slowly , the woman folded her arms , and stood immovable for several minutes ; her brow grew dark as midnight , and a strange , settled expression came up to her face , as if the poison she had just spoken of were diffusing itself through her entire system . At last she heard steps approaching the library , and hurried away through the disused entrance . As Ralph Harrington was returning from Benson 's cabin one night , he met Agnes Barker . It was yet early in the evening , but the sharp , frosty air rendered it singular that a young girl should have ventured into the cold , without some important object to urge her forth .