midnight
There was an abrupt silence -- the sound of Suzette 's slippered feet -- and the scrap of paper disappeared . Then heavy , excited breathing within . I dashed upstairs and was down again with the cigarettes before the general had remarked my tardiness to his aide . At midnight I lighted their candles and saw them safely up to bed . Then I went to my room fronting the marsh and breathed easier . `` Her sweetheart from her own village , '' I said to myself as I blew out my candle . `` The other '' -- I sighed drowsily -- `` was evidently his cousin .