midnight
Sir Andrew had expressed the opinion that no doubt she had got in the lee of the wind before the storm broke out , or else perhaps had not ventured into the open at all , but was lying quietly at Gravesend . Briggs was an expert skipper , and Sir Percy handled a schooner as well as any master mariner . There was no danger for them from the storm . It was long past midnight when at last Marguerite retired to rest . As she had feared , sleep sedulously avoided her eyes . Her thoughts were of the blackest during these long , weary hours , whilst that incessant storm raged which was keeping her away from Percy . The sound of the distant breakers made her heart ache with melancholy .