midnight
Hearing Neville 's history through a mutual friend , he decided , with his usual characteristic impulse , that here was the very man for him -- a gentleman by birth , rumored to be an excellent scholar , -- and he at once offered him the post he had in view , -- that of private secretary at a salary of 200 pounds per annum . The astonished Neville could not at first believe in his good fortune , and began to stammer forth his gratitude with trembling lips and moistening eyes , -- but Errington cut him short by declaring the whole thing settled , and desiring him to enter on his duties at once . He was forthwith installed in his position , -- a highly enviable one for a man of his dreamy and meditative turn of mind . To him , literature and music were precious as air and light , he handled the rare volumes on the Errington book-shelves with lingering tenderness , and often pored over some difficult manuscript , or dusty folio till long past midnight , almost forgetful of his griefs in the enchantment thus engendered . Nor did he lack his supreme comforter , music , -- there was a fine organ at the lower end of the long library , and seated at his beloved instrument , he wiled away many an hour , -- steeping his soul in the divine and solemn melodies of Palestrina and Pergolesi , till the cruel sorrow that had darkened his life seemed nothing but a bad dream , and the face of his wife as he had first known it , fair , trustful , and plaintive , floated before his eyes unchanged , and arousing in him the old foolish throbbing emotions of rapture and passion that had gladdened the bygone days . He never lost the hope of meeting her again , and from time to time he renewed his search for her , though all uselessly -- he studied the daily papers with an almost morbid anxiety lest he should see the notice of her death -- and he would even await each post with a heart beating more rapidly than usual , in case there should be some letter from her , imploring forgiveness , explaining everything , and summoning him once more to her side . He found a true and keenly sympathizing friend in Sir Philip , to whom he became profoundly attached , -- to satisfy his wishes , to forward his interests , to attend to his affairs with punctilious exactitude -- all this gave Neville the supremest happiness .