midnight
He was speaking to her slowly and earnestly , she listening attentively to his words . I saw that she sighed deeply , her fine eyes cast upon the ground . It all seemed as though he were reproaching her with something , for she was silent , in an attitude almost of penitence . Now that I obtained a full view of the reverend gentleman 's features in full daylight they seemed less mysterious , less sinister than in the half-light of midnight . He looked a grave , earnest , sober-living man , with that slight affectation of the Church which one finds more in the rural districts than in cities , for the black clerical straw hat and the clerical drawl seem always to go together . It is strange that the village curate is always more affected in his speech than the popular preacher of the West End , and the country vicar 's wife is even more exclusive in her tea-and-tennis acquaintances than the wife of the lord bishop himself . For a few moments I watched unseen .