Midnight
Mr -- seemed to think the idea a wild one , but he promised to see what could be done to overcome the difficulties he foresaw , and in a week he forwarded John several drawings for his consideration . Judged by comparison with John 's dreams , the practical architecture of the experienced man seemed altogether lacking in expression and in poetry of proportion ; and comparing them with his own cherished project , John hung over the billiard-table , where the drawings were laid out , hour after hour , only to rise more bitterly fretful , more utterly unable than usual to reconcile himself to natural limitation , more hopelessly longing for the unattainable . He could think of nothing but his monastery ; his Latin authors were forgotten ; he drew façades and turrets on the cloth during dinner , and he went up to his room , not to bed , but to reconsider the difficulties that rendered the construction of a central tower an impossibility . Midnight : the house seems alive in the silence : night is on the world . The twilight sheds on the walking birds , on the falling petals , and in the rich shadow the candle burns brightly . The great bridal bed yawns , the lace pillows lie wide , the curtains hang dreamily in the hallowed light . John leans over his drawings .