midnight
The downfall of the Williamses continued to be a sweet solace and source of encouragement to Selma . It made her , when taken in conjunction with her own recent progress , feel that the whirligig of time was working in her behalf after all ; and that if she persevered , not merely Flossy , but all those who worshipped mammon , and consequently failed to recognize her talents , would be made to bite the dust . At the moment these enemies seemed to have infested Benham . Numerically speaking , they were unimportant , but they had established an irritating , irregular skirmish line , one end of which occupied Wetmore College , another held secret midnight meetings at Mrs. Hallett Taylor 's . Rumors of various undertakings , educational , semi-political , artistic , or philanthropic , agitated or directed by this fringe of society , came to her ears from time to time , but she heard them as an outsider . When she became the Governor 's wife she had said to herself that now these aristocrats would be compelled to admit her to their counsels . But she found , to her annoyance , that the election made no difference .