midnight
Emma sat up till twelve o'clock . The thought on which she was brooding was not one to make the time go lightly ; it was -- how much and how various evil can be wrought by a single act of treachery . And the instance in her mind was more fruitful than her knowledge allowed her to perceive . Kate appeared shortly after midnight . She had very red cheeks and very bright eyes , and her mood was quarrelsome . She sat down on the bed and began to talk of Daniel Dabbs , as she had often done already , in a maundering way . Emma kept silence ; she was beginning to undress .