midnight
There were three heads close together for a space of twenty seconds or so , and then a fearful explosion happened -- the unique , tremendous laughter of Mr Colclough , which went off like a charge of melinite and staggered the furniture . ` Now , now ! ' a feminine voice protested from an unseen interior . I was taken to the drawing-room , an immense apartment with an immense piano black as midnight in it . At the further end two women were seated close together in conversation , and I distinctly heard the name ` Fuge ' . One of them was Mrs Brindley , in a hat . The other , a very big and stout woman , in an elaborate crimson garment that resembled a teagown , rose and came to meet me with extended hand .