midnight
`` See , '' said her unknown questioner , `` here are a couple of sovereigns . You need not wander into the open country to look for an empty barn . You can procure shelter at some respectable inn . Or stay , it is close upon midnight : you might find it difficult to get admitted to any respectable house at such an hour . You had better come with me to my hotel yonder , the ` Star ' -- the landlady is a kind-hearted creature , and will see you comfortably lodged . Come ! '' The girl stood before Sir Oswald , shivering in the bleak wind , with a thin black shawl wrapped tightly around her , and her dark brown hair blown away from her face by that bitter March wind .