midnight
The quick decay of my very small inheritance lay corroding at my heart , and prompted me to a thousand different schemes , without the power of determining me to any . My general propensity however was more to the desperate , which should at once be decisive , than to the slow and lingering plans of timid prudence . In reality both seemed hopeless , and therefore the briefest suffering was the best . At some short intervals the glow of hope , which had lately been so fervid , would return , and those powers of thought that seemed to be struggling within me would promise great and glorious success ; but these were only flashes of lightening darting through a midnight sky , the texture of which was deep obscurity ; ` darkness visible . ' To one point however I was fixed , that of using every endeavour to learn the true sentiments of Olivia respecting me ; and , if any possible opportunity offered , of declaring my own . To effect this I resolved , since I knew not what better method to take , that I would watch the few public places to which all the visitors at Bath resort . I therefore immediately subscribed to the upper and lower rooms , and traversed the city in every direction .