midnight
`` I need warmth and freshness and light : my wife shall bring them to me . She shall be no strong-willed reformer , standing alone : a sovereign lady with kind words for the world , who gives her hand only to that man whom she trusts , and keeps her heart and its secrets for me alone . '' She paid no heed to him other than by a deepening colour ; the clock , however , grew tired of the long soliloquy , and broke in with an asthmatic warning as to the time of night . `` There is midnight , '' she said . `` You shall go , now , Stephen Holmes , -- quick ! before your sovereign lady fades , like Cinderella , into grayness and frozen eyes ! '' When he was gone , she knelt down by her window , remembering that night long ago , -- free to sob and weep out her joy , -- very sure that her Master had not forgotten to hear even a woman 's prayer , and to give her her true work , -- very sure , -- never to doubt again .