midnight
he asked , deferentially . `` Yes -- no -- I must have been , '' she said , faintly . Lingard 's soul was exalted by his talk with Mrs. Travers , by the strain of incertitude and by extreme fatigue . On returning on board he asked after Hassim and was told that the Rajah and his sister had gone off in their canoe promising to return before midnight . The boats sent to scout between the islets north and south of the anchorage had not come back yet . He went into his cabin and throwing himself on the couch closed his eyes thinking : `` I must sleep or I shall go mad . '' At times he felt an unshaken confidence in Mrs. Travers -- then he remembered her face .