midnight
He ought to have been her father , her friend , her commander , and marched her out of that `` curse-all '' to the top of Cader Idris , if need was . Instead of that , he stood behind her chair like her lackey all day : for his dove was as desperate a gambler as any in Europe . It was not that she bet very heavily , but that she bet every day and all day . She began in the afternoon , and played till midnight if there was a table going . She knew no day of religion -- no day of rest . She won , and she lost : her own fortune and her husband 's stood the money drain ; but how about the golden hours ? She was losing her youth and wasting her soul .