midnight
`` Constance ! '' flared Mrs. Medcroft , aghast at this sign of lese-majesty . `` Do n't tell anybody , '' called Constance , as she banged the door behind her . Soon after midnight a closely veiled lady drove up to a street corner adjacent to the city prison , a dolorous-looking building which loomed up still and menacing just ahead . She alighted and , dismissing the cab , strode off quickly into the side street . At a distant corner , in front of a crowded eating-house , two spirited horses , saddled and in charge of a grumbling stable-boy , champed noisily at their bits . The young woman exchanged a few rapid sentences with the boy , and then returned in the direction from which she came .