midnight
If the young household would only listen to wisdom , she thought , the coming generation of the du Guenics , by enduring privations , and saving , as people do save in the provinces , would be able to buy back their estates and recover , in the end , the lustre of wealth . The baroness prayed for a long age that she might see the dawn of this prosperous era . Mademoiselle du Guenic had understood and fully adopted this hope which Mademoiselle des Touches now threatened to overthrow . The baroness heard midnight strike , with tears ; her mind conceived of many horrors during the next hour , for the clock struck one , and Calyste was still not at home . `` Will he stay there ? '' she thought . `` It would be the first time .