midnight
No woman could be with him and escape that fate , thought Dorothy . Her hope as to the other half -- John 's part -- rested solely upon her faith in John , which was really great , and her confidence in her own charms and in her own power to hold him , which in truth , and with good reason , was not small , Dorothy went to bed , and Jennie , following her usual custom , when at Haddon , lay upon the floor in the same room . John 's letter , with all its tenderness , had thrown Dorothy into an inquisitive frame of mind . After an hour or two of restless tossing upon the bed she fell asleep , but soon after midnight she awakened , and in her drowsy condition the devil himself played upon the strings of her dream-charged imagination . After a time she sprang from the bed , lighted a candle at the rush light , and read John 's letter in a tremor of dream-wrought fear . Then she aroused Jennie Faxton and asked : -- `` When were you at Rutland ? '' `` I spent yesterday and to-day there , mistress , '' answered Jennie .