midnight
Ellinor now returned , and with difficulty Madeline found words to explain to her what had passed . It will be conceived that the two young ladies watched the arrival of their father with no lukewarm expectation ; the stranger however appeared no more ; and in about an hour , to their inexpressible joy , they heard the rumbling sound of the old coach as it rolled towards the house . This time there was no delay in unbarring the door . `` Or let my lamp at midnight hour Be seen in some high lonely tower , Where I may oft outwatch the Bear , Or thrice-great Hermes , and unsphere The spirit of Plato . '' -- Milton . -- Il Penseroso . As Aram assisted the beautiful Madeline into the carriage -- as he listened to her sweet voice -- as he marked the grateful expression of her soft eyes -- as he felt the slight yet warm pressure of her fairy hand , that vague sensation of delight which preludes love , for the first time , in his sterile and solitary life , agitated his breast .