midnight
Though she had never admitted it even to herself , he was her favourite child . When dinner was over she had the children to herself -- to the gracious , unhurried self she gave them -- until ten o'clock . Then their books were put away , and after she had kissed them good-night , and tucked the covers about them , she came back to the living-room , and sat down to her sewing with Miss Polly . The ease and cheerfulness dropped from her at the approach of midnight , and while the two women bent over their needles they talked of their anxieties , and planned innumerable and intricate ways of economy . `` Fanny 's school costs so much , and , of course , she must have clothes . All the other girls dress so expensively . '' `` You spend three times as much on her as you do on Archibald . ''