Midnight
Not for worlds would she have remained that night in the house ; hastily throwing on a bonnet and shawl , she issued forth into the street . She cared not where she went , so long as she escaped from the vicinity of that scene of murder . In a state of mind bordering on distraction , the wretched woman wandered about the streets until a late hour ; the disorder of her dress , the wildness of her appearance , induced many whom she met to suppose her to be intoxicated ; and several riotous young men , returning from a theatre , believing her to be a courtezan , treated her with the utmost rudeness , at the same time calling her by the most opprobrious names , until a gentleman who was passing rescued her from their brutality . Midnight came , and still was the unhappy Julia a wanderer through the streets . At length she found herself upon Charlestown bridge ; and being much fatigued , she paused and leaned against the railing , uncertain what to do or where to go . That hour was the most wretched of her life ; her brain was dizzy with excitement -- her heart racked with remorse -- her limbs weak with fatigue , and numbed with cold . The spirit of Mr. Hedge seemed to emerge from the water , and invite her with outstretched arms to make the fatal plunge ; and when she thought of his unvaried kindness to her , his unbounded generosity , and implicit faith in her honor , how bitterly she reproached herself for her base ingratitude and abominable crime !