midnight
Thinkst thou that , if I had that regard for him , which thou fearest , I would suffer him to tarry below there to get frozen ? '' Which said , the lady and her now partly reassured lover got them to bed , where for a great while they disported them right gamesomely , laughing together and making merry over the luckless scholar . The scholar , meanwhile , paced up and down the courtyard to keep himself warm , nor indeed had he where to sit , or take shelter : in this plight he bestowed many a curse upon the lady 's brother for his long tarrying , and never a sound did he hear but he thought that 't was the lady opening the door . But vain indeed were his hopes : the lady , having solaced herself with her lover until hard upon midnight , then said to him : -- `` How ratest thou our scholar , my soul ? whether is the greater his wit , or the love I bear him , thinkst thou ? Will the cold , that , of my ordaining , he now suffers , banish from thy breast the suspicion which my light words the other day implanted there ? '' `` Ay , indeed , heart of my body ! ''