midnight
Then there would be nothing which could give Hermon a right to consideration ; then she might let loose upon him the avenging powers at her command . Ledscha again gazed over the calm landscape , but in the wild tumult of her heart she no longer distinguished the details upon which her eyes rested . Doubtless she saw the light mists hovering like ghosts , or the restless shades of the unburied dead , over the shining expanse before her , and the filmy vapours that veiled the brightness of the stars , but she had ceased to question the heavenly bodies about the time . What did she care for the progress of the hours , since the constellation of Charles 's Wain showed her that it was past midnight ? The moon no longer stood forth in sharp outlines against the deep azure of the vaulted sky , but , robbed of its radiance , floated in a circle of dimly illumined mists . Not only the feelings which stirred Ledscha 's soul , but the scene around her , had gained a totally different aspect . Since every hope of the happiness awaiting her was destroyed , she no longer sought to palliate the wrongs Hermon had inflicted upon her .