midnight
Then , instead of going to the adjoining room , he chose a chair beside a shaded lamp , and said to himself that he would sleep by the fire . Presently the huge house sank into a silence even more profound than that in which it was now steeped by day . A cold autumn wind blew round about it . After midnight the wind dropped , and the temperature with it . The first severe frost laid its grip on forest and down and garden . Silently the dahlias and the roses died , the leaves shrivelled and blackened , and a cold and glorious moon rose upon the ruins of the summer . Lankester dozed and woke , keeping up the fire , and wrapping himself in an eider-down , with which the valet had provided him .