midnight
Her sense of decency was outraged . She despised Jane because she had no strength of character ; but even while this thought was still in her mind , she admitted that Jane had had sufficient strength of character to upset the household , bring Charley to repentance , and emerge , faint but victorious , from the wreck of their peace . Yes , she despised Jane , though it was impossible to deny that Jane 's methods were successful , since she had got what she wanted . The street was very quiet , for it was in the small gray hours between midnight and dawn , and a solitary policeman , strolling by on his beat , appeared as wan and spectral as the bare boughs of the poplar trees beneath which he moved . The wind was still blowing over the brow of the hill , and now and then it tossed a wisp of straw or a handful of dust on the porch where Gabriella was standing . As it swept onward it drove a flock of shadows , like black birds , up the open street into the clear space under the old-fashioned gas lamp at the corner . All the lights were out in the neighbouring houses , but from a boarding-house down the block there floated suddenly the gay snatch of a waltz played on a banjo with a broken string .