midnight
As often as I caught the younger brother 's eyes , their expression reminded me that he disliked me deeply , for knowing what I knew from the boy . He was smoother and more polite to me than the elder ; but I saw this . I also saw that I was an incumbrance in the mind of the elder , too . `` My patient died , two hours before midnight -- at a time , by my watch , answering almost to the minute when I had first seen her . I was alone with her , when her forlorn young head drooped gently on one side , and all her earthly wrongs and sorrows ended . `` The brothers were waiting in a room down-stairs , impatient to ride away . I had heard them , alone at the bedside , striking their boots with their riding-whips , and loitering up and down .