midnight before
` Who can forget it ! ' ` But even that is not all , ' said I. ` During the last fortnight , some new trouble has vexed her ; and she has been in and out of London every day . Several times she has gone out early , and been absent until evening . Last night , Traddles , with this journey before her , it was almost midnight before she came home . You know what her consideration for others is . She will not tell me what has happened to distress her . ' My aunt , very pale , and with deep lines in her face , sat immovable until I had finished ; when some stray tears found their way to her cheeks , and she put her hand on mine .