nearly midnight
`` The person to whom I spoke is a nice lady ; now , do n't be silly , child . '' `` The little girls will laugh at me , '' she said , drying her tears with her pinafore . Her father did not answer her , but sat meditatively pulling on his enormous nose . It was nearly midnight when Adèle managed to drop to sleep . Tuesday came . Her father drove her to town in his old phaeton . Then , taking her by the hand , he led her at No .