midnight
She had squabbled , that very afternoon , if it is possible to squabble when only one party does the squabbling , all the way down to Ellen 's about various quite unimportant dates in William 's life . The incident was almost as much a part of her day 's routine as eating her breakfast . Now it seemed to her a manifestation of the degradation into which she had fallen . The power and vividness of her memory , magnified ten times by the mysterious agency of midnight , brought back the words of advice of Emily Mence , of Minna , and of her aunt , just as if they had been spoken last week . She had entirely forgotten them for years . Now they kept rushing through her head hour after hour . Before breakfast Evelyn came into her room , her eyes shining with agitation , and looking so flushed that Henrietta saw what need there had been for Herbert 's caution .