midnight
Everything was in wretched condition . Buttons and hooks were lacking ; a heap of darning lay untouched ; Lena 's veil , with which she attempted to hide the ruin of her hat , was crumpled into the semblance of a rain-soaked cobweb ; and her shoes had gone long without the reassurance of a good blacking . Kate put some irons over the stove which served Lena as a cooking-range , and proceeded on a campaign of reconstruction . It was midnight when she finished , and she was weary and heartsick . The little , strained face on the pillow seemed to belong to one whom the furies were pursuing . Yet nothing was pursuing her save her own fanatical desire for a thing which , once obtained , would avail her nothing . She had not personality enough to meet life on terms which would allow her one iota of leadership .