midnight
But I was fancying myself more in love with my gay partner than ever , and once , in a pause of the dances , when he whispered , ` If to-night would only last forever , with you at my side , I should be content . ' `` I came swiftly to the conclusion that life without George Le Grande would be tasteless , and resolved then and there to yield to his entreaties and fly from my solemn bridegroom . But my mind was wavering , and I kept putting it off until the very night before my marriage morn that was to be . We left the city by a midnight train , and after travelling until morning we stopped at a country village -- really I forget the name , if I ever knew it -- and were married in a little country church by a dull , old minister who regarded us suspiciously all the time he was performing the ceremony . I was sure he thought us a runaway couple , but that did not trouble me so much as that obscure marriage with a heavy-looking pair brought in from a cottage near at hand to witness the ceremony . I kept contrasting it with the stately ceremony that was to have taken place nearly at the same hour , in old Trinity , with the organ pealing forth the wedding march , the rush of guests and sight-seers , orange blossoms and perfumes , and all the bewildering vanities of a fashionable wedding . Before I had signed my maiden name for the last time , I began to regret my rash step , and ere the month was ended the thorns of my ill-advised sowing were springing up around me .