midnight
observed Emily , `` her ideas followed each other in perfect order . '' `` Yes , '' replied the nun , `` this is nothing new ; nay , I have sometimes known her argue not only with method , but with acuteness , and then , in a moment , start off into madness . '' `` Her conscience seems afflicted , '' said Emily , `` did you ever hear what circumstance reduced her to this deplorable condition ? '' `` I have , '' replied the nun , who said no more till Emily repeated the question , when she added in a low voice , and looking significantly towards the other boarders , `` I can not tell you now , but , if you think it worth your while , come to my cell , tonight , when our sisterhood are at rest , and you shall hear more ; but remember we rise to midnight prayers , and come either before , or after midnight . '' Emily promised to remember , and , the abbess soon after appearing , they spoke no more of the unhappy nun . The Count meanwhile , on his return home , had found M. Du Pont in one of those fits of despondency , which his attachment to Emily frequently occasioned him , an attachment , that had subsisted too long to be easily subdued , and which had already outlived the opposition of his friends . M. Du Pont had first seen Emily in Gascony , during the lifetime of his parent , who , on discovering his son 's partiality for Mademoiselle St. Aubert , his inferior in point of fortune , forbade him to declare it to her family , or to think of her more .