midnight
Then they made him stand up , and led him without the house , and set him on a horse , and linked his feet together under the belly thereof . And when that was done he saw them lead out the Lady , and they set her in a horse litter , and then the whole troop rode off together , with two men riding on either side of the said litter . In this wise they left Littledale . They rode speedily , and had with them men who knew the woodland ways , so that the journey was nought so long thence as Goldilind had made it thither ; and they stayed not for nightfall , since the moon was bright , so that they came before the Castle-gate before midnight . Now Goldilind looked to be cast into prison , whatever might befall her upon the morrow ; but so it went not , for she was led straight to her own chamber , and one of her women , but not Aloyse , waited on her , and when she tried to have some tidings of her , the woman spake to her no more than if she were dumb . So all unhappily she laid her down in her bed , foreboding the worst , which she deemed might well be death at the hand of her jailers . As for Christopher , she saw the last of him as they entered the Castle-gate , and knew not what they had done with him .