midnight
Dinner was not quite finished when , without warning , sleep hit him hard . His burning eyes could no longer restrain the lids above them ; his head sagged beyond control ; and he got to his feet , and went lurching upstairs , yawning with exhaustion . From the door of his room , which he closed mechanically , with his eyes shut , he went blindly to his bed , fell upon it soddenly , and slept -- with his face full upturned to the light . It was after midnight when he woke , and the room was dark . He had not dreamed , but he woke with the sense that somebody or something had been with him while he slept -- somebody or something infinitely compassionate ; somebody or something infinitely protective , that would let him come to no harm and to no grief . He got up , and pressed the light on . Pinned to the cover of his dressing-table was a square envelope , with the words , `` For you , dear , '' written in pencil upon it .