nearly midnight
Dr. Bayard , too excited to go to bed , had thrown himself on a sofa and was plotting for the future and planning an alliance for his fair daughter that would mean power and position for himself . And Mr. Holmes was sitting with darkened face at his bedside , gazing blankly at the handkerchief he had picked up on the floor just in front of the bureau , a handkerchief embroidered in one corner with the letters R. McL . * * * * * Over at the major 's quarters were other sleepless eyes . It was late , nearly midnight , when the commanding officer finished dictating his telegraphic despatches to department head-quarters , and when he reached his home Mrs. Miller was still sitting up for him . A faithful and devoted spouse she was , -- something of the Peggy O'Dowd order , and prone at times to order him about with scant ceremony , but quickly resentful of any slight from other sources . She could not bear that any man or woman should suppose for an instant that her major was not the embodiment of every attribute that became a soldier and a man . She stood between him and the knowledge of many a little garrison squabble or scandal rather than have him annoyed by tales that were of no consequence ; but now she had that to tell that concerned the honor and welfare of the whole command , and she felt that he must know at once .