midnight
If I had been a total eclipse of the sun , and they a group of enthusiastic astronomers bent upon observing every phenomenon , they could not have gazed more steadily . Minima was leaning against me , half asleep . A narrow vista of tall houses lay to the right and left , lost in impenetrable darkness . The strip of sky overhead was black with midnight . `` Noireau ? '' I asked , in a tone of interrogation . `` Oui , oui , madame , '' responded a chorus of voices .