midnight
What does a young blade of twenty-two know ? Not half so much as he thinks he does . His exhaust-less ignorance at that age is a discovery which is left for him to make in his prime . `` Curly gold locks cover foolish brains , Billing and cooing is all your cheer ; Sighing and singing of midnight strains , Under Bonnybell 's window panes , -- Wait till you come to Forty Year ! '' In one sense Margaret 's husband _ had _ come to forty year -- she was forty to a day . Mrs. Margaret O'Rourke , with the baddish cat following close at her heels , entered the Bilkins mansion , reached her chamber in the attic without being intercepted , and there laid aside her finery . Two or three times , while arranging her more humble attire , she paused to take a look at the marriage certificate , which she had deposited between the leaves of her Prayer-Book , and on each occasion held that potent document upside down ; for Margaret 's literary culture was of the severest order , and excluded the art of reading .