midnight
If she possessed a single womanly virtue , it was supreme unselfishness . There was some one beside herself to take into consideration -- a poor , vacillating , weak , miserable woman who wished to do what was right and had agreed to do so , but who , in the privacy of her own apartments , had gone down on her knees and begged Annie to protect her from the consequences of her own folly . Her husband must not know . Annie had promised that if there was any way possible the knowledge of that clandestine midnight visit to Underwood 's rooms should be kept from him . Yet there stood the banker ! She was afraid that if they began questioning her in his presence she might be betrayed into saying something that would instantly arouse his suspicions . Judge Brewster went quickly forward as she came in and led her to a chair .