midnight
The midsummer night was full of dark and deadly menace . Hours ago a fierce and wrathful sunset had burned itself out on a brassy sky . The sun , a lurid ball of fire , had sunk in billows of blood-red cloud , and pitch blackness had fallen upon earth and sky and sea . Everything above and below breathed of speedy tempest , but the midnight was drawing near , and the storm had not yet burst . And on this black June night Sir Jasper Kingsland lay on his stately bed , dying . The lofty chamber was but dimly lighted . It was a grand , vast room , paneled in black oak , hung with somber draperies , and carpeted in rich dark Brussels .