Midnight
Or was it Penalty , or Nemesis , or that Destiny which will have its toll for all it gives of beauty , or pleasure , or pride , or place , or pageantry ? `` Love 's tired eyes and hands and barren bosom '' -- The words kept ringing in her ears . They soothed her at last into a sleep which brought no peace , no rest or repose . Midnight -- one o'clock , two o'clock , three o'clock . Big Ben boomed the hours , and from St. James 's Palace came the stroke of the quarters , lighter , quicker , almost pensive in tone . From St. James 's Street below came no sounds at last . The clatter of the hoofs of horses had ceased , the rumble of drays carrying their night freights , the shouts of the newsboys making sensation out of rumours made in a newspaper office , had died away .