midnight
Mrs. Abbott did not wish the children to go into other hands ; she made it a matter of conscience to keep them by her , and to educate them , yet this seemed barely possible with the combat for a livelihood before her . Mrs. Abbott yielded , and their clasp of hands cemented a wholesome friendship -- frank , unsuspicious -- rarest of relations between man and woman . But all this there was certainly no need of disclosing . At midnight he was penning a letter . It must not be long ; it must not strike the lyrical note ; yet assuredly it must not read like a commercial overture . He had great difficulty in writing anything that seemed tolerable . Yet done it must be , and done it was ; and before going to bed he had dropped his letter into the post .