midnight
Among the garments put ready for her use , chanced to be the robe of sapphire velvet which she had worn on that night . She put it on ; with jewels at her breast and girdle . Then , with the mantle of ermine falling from her shoulders , and her beautiful hair covering her as a veil , she left her chamber , passed softly along the passage , found the winding stair , and mounted to the ramparts . As she stepped out from the turret stairway , she exclaimed at the sublime beauty of the scene before her ; the sleeping world at midnight , bathed in the silvery light of the moon ; the shadows of the firs , lying like black bars across the road to the Castle gate . `` There I watched him ride away , '' she said , with a sweep of her arm toward the road , `` watched , until the dark woods swallowed him . And here '' -- with a sweep toward the turret -- `` here , we parted . '' She turned ; then caught her breath .