midnight
I was a mere skeleton ; and fever night and day preyed upon my wasted frame . Still , as I urged our leaving Ireland with such inquietude and impatience , my father thought it best to yield . We took our passage on board a vessel bound for Havre-de-Grace , and sailed with a fair wind from the Irish shores . It was midnight . I lay on the deck , looking at the stars , and listening to the dashing of the waves . I hailed the darkness that shut Ireland from my sight ; and my pulse beat with a feverish joy when I reflected that I should soon see Geneva . The past appeared to me in the light of a frightful dream ; yet the vessel in which I was , the wind that blew me from the detested shore of Ireland , and the sea which surrounded me , told me too forcibly that I was deceived by no vision , and that Clerval , my friend and dearest companion , had fallen a victim to me and the monster of my creation .