midnight
And with a flourish of his broad-brimmed hat he turned on his heel and anon was lost in the shadows of the tall yew hedge . How long she stood there watching that spot whereon he had been standing , she could not say . Presently she shivered ; the night had turned cold . She heard the cry of some small bird attacked by a midnight prowler ; was it the sparrow-hawk after its prey ? From the other side of the house came the sound of slow and firm footsteps , then the opening and shutting of a door . Sir Marmaduke de Chavasse had played his part for to-night : silently as he had gone , so he returned to his room , whilst in another corner of the sparrow-hawk 's nest a young girl slept , dreaming dreams of patriots and heroes , of causes nobly won , of poverty and obscurity gloriously endured . Mistress de Chavasse with a sigh half of regret , half of indifference , finally turned her back on the moonlit garden and went within .