midnight
I will send a message to you to-night to let you know how fortune uses us . '' He took her fondly in his arms , kissed her , and then hurried from the room . For hours after his departure she paced up and down with noiseless steps upon the deep soft carpet , her hand still clenched , her eyes flaming , her whole soul wrapped and consumed with jealousy and hatred of her rival . Ten struck , and eleven , and midnight , but still she waited , fierce and eager , straining her ears for every foot-fall which might be the herald of news . At last it came . She heard the quick step in the passage , the tap at the ante-room door , and the whispering of her black page . Quivering with impatience , she rushed in and took the note herself from the dusty cavalier who had brought it .