midnight
They walked out of the conservatory side by side . I do not think they exchanged another word ; and I remained stunned , motionless , stupefied , like a man who wakes from some ghastly and bewildering dream . The striking of the Castle clock roused me to consciousness -- to a conviction of the importance of time , and the necessity for immediate action . It was now midnight . Early to-morrow we should all be on the alert for the grand battue on the Waldenberg , for which preparations had been making for several days . I should scarcely have an opportunity of speaking in private to my friend , and the day after it might be too late . No , to-night I must see Victor before he slept : to-night I must warn him from the abyss into which he was about to fall , confess to him the dishonourable act of which I had been guilty , sustain his anger and contempt as I best might , and plead her cause whom I must never see again .