midnight
Let me not destroy my present happiness . It is joy enough that my fears are dispersed , and that he has not yet left me . '' So she restrained herself -- though that self-restraint was the mightest task which she had ever undertaken -- and sat passively listening , when every feeling prompted her to rush forth eagerly to greet him . He went away that day , and came back by midnight . Hilda did not trouble him , and they met on the following morning . Now , at the first glance which she stole at him , she noted in him a wonderful change . His face had lost its gloom ; there was an expression of peace and blissful tranquillity which she had never observed before , and which she had never thought possible to one who had appeared to her as he always had .