midnight
And in doubt and anxiety I stood there in that great salon for many hours to make conversation with the guest of honor easy with those who came to him for presentation , until at last I was so weary that I could not make even a good night to my Uncle , the General Robert , when we entered , long after midnight , the doors of Twin Oaks . When in my own apartment , alone with the beautiful Grandmamma , I cast myself upon the bed upon which my father had had birth , and wept with all my woman 's heart which beat so hard under that attire of the raven . `` Scarcely one more day and perhaps I must flee in dishonor from all the love of these friends , '' I sobbed to myself , but deeper than all that I wept for the picture of that beautiful woman at the side of my beloved Gouverneur Faulkner . And then suddenly as I lay in my weeping the telephone upon the table beside my bed gave a loud ringing in the darkness that was long after midnight . Very quickly from fear I covered my head with my pillow and waited with a great fluttering of heart . Then a second time it rang with a great fury and I perceived that I must make a response to it . I arose and took that receiver into my hand and spoke with a fine though husky calmness .