midnight
There was a pause . Taking out my knife , I ripped open a seam in the curtain hanging before me , and looked through . He was eyeing her intently , a firm look upon his face that made its reserve more marked than common . I saw him gaze at her handsome head piled with its midnight tresses amid which the jewels , doubtless of her dead lord , burned with a fierce and ominous glare , at her smooth olive brow , her partly veiled eyes where the fire passionately blazed , at her scarlet lips trembling with an emotion her rapidly flushing cheeks would not allow her to conceal . I saw his glances fall and embrace her whole elegant form with its casing of ruby velvet and ornamentation of lace and diamonds , and an expectant thrill passed through me almost as if I already beheld the mask of his reserve falling , and the true man flash out in response to the wooing beauty of this full-blown rose , evidently in waiting for him . But it died away and a deeper feeling seized me as I saw his glances return unkindled to her countenance , and heard him say in still more measured accents than before : `` Is it possible then that the Countess De Mirac can desire the adulation of us poor American plebeians ? I had not thought it , madame . ''