midnight
People like you are sensitive about their honour -- it is the sign of their superiority ; and the indulgence of love , even at the moment , and under the most favourable circumstances of youth , beauty , and intellectual equality , does not satisfy such natures , if the indulgence be not regulated and sanctified by all that men and women have devised to make their relations moral . '' This was my last argument , and when I had done she sat there for a long time silent , resting her head against my knee , and scarcely breathing . She was fighting it out with herself , and I thought it best to leave her alone -- besides , I had already said all there was to say ; repetition would only have irritated her , and there was nothing now for it but to wait . Outside , I could hear the dreary drip of raindrops ; somewhere in the room a clock ticked obtrusively ; but it was long past midnight , and the house was still . I thought that only the night and silence watched with me , and waited upon the suffering of this one poor soul . At last she moved , uttering a low moan , like one in pain . `` I do see it , '' she said , almost in a whisper ; `` and I am willing to give him up . ''