midnight
Jerome 's mother never knew about the rent in his father 's best coat , nor the fight . To do the boy justice , he kept it from her , neither because of cowardice nor deceit , but because of magnanimity . `` It will just work her all up if she knew ` Lisha Robinson made fun of father 's best coat , and it 's tore , '' Jerome told Elmira , who nodded in entire assent . Elmira sat up in her cold chamber until long after midnight , and darned the rent painfully by the light of a tallow candle . Then it was a comparatively simple matter , when one had to deal with a woman confined to a rocking-chair , to never give her a full view of the mended coat-tail . Jerome cultivated a habit of backing out of the room , as from an audience with a queen . The sting from his wounded pride having been salved with victory , he was unduly important in his own estimation , until an unforeseen result came from the affair .