midnight
I could not suffer such poverty again . And then , it is my honour ! '' I felt that she would not have given way thus had not her nerves been shaken , had she not lived so much alone , and irregularly , so far as her own rest and comfort were concerned , and at such perpetual cost to her energy . Mrs. Falchion , I knew , was selfish , and would not , or could not , see that she was hard upon the girl , by such exactions as midnight reading and loss of sleep . She demanded not merely physical but mental energy -- a complete submission of both ; and when this occurred with a sensitive , high-strung girl , she was literally feeding on another 's life - blood . If she had been told this , she , no doubt , would have been very much surprised . I reassured Justine .