midnight
Was it conceivable that she loved him , after having wounded him , as if intentionally , by acts which she knew were detestable to him ? If her heart was still his , how could she have so inconsiderately favoured in his presence another , younger man ? Angrily excited by the question , he rose from the writing-table . But ere he went to rest he thought of his hapless mother , whose birthday at this hour , beyond midnight , was now over , and , kneeling before the priedieu in his bedroom , he fervently commended her to the mercy of Heaven . This woman had loved her husband so fondly that it was long ere she could resolve to part from his corpse , yet she was the heiress of the mightiest sovereigns ; and what was this Ratisbon girl whom he honoured with his affection ? And yet ! While her lips were still glowing from his kisses , she had carried on a reckless game with another , and was now robbing him of the repose of mind which he so urgently , needed .