midnight
the _ Maestro _ inquired . `` To-morrow , '' she said . `` And may we know ... '' `` I go alone , '' she answered , smiling . About each of her ecstatic granddaughters ' necks she gravely clasped her pearl or diamond chains , as they stood at the foot of the stairs in her brownstone house long after midnight ; in each grandson 's hot , astonished palm lay a glittering ring or bracelet , `` For your wife , some day ! '' `` How strangely mamma is acting , '' Wilhelmina complained to her brother . `` I suppose she is excited by all this ? '' `` She appears perfectly calm to me , '' he answered .