midnight
Absurd , impossible ways of winning her suggested themselves . To risk a further estrangement , therefore , was intolerable . But as if his thoughts were telepathic messages , she did the very thing he feared . `` We wo n't be in before midnight , '' she said , `` but I 'll send you to Jonesville in the morning . '' `` Thank you , ma'am -- I 'll have to go right through . '' `` I 'll get you there in time for business . We 've gained a reputation for inhospitableness at Las Palmas that I want to overcome . ''