nearly midnight
Mr. Home knelt down at once . The gray-headed and sinful man knelt by his side . Then the clergyman hurried away to fetch his wife . It was very nearly midnight when Mr. Home , entering the sitting-room where his wife waited up for him , asked her to come with him at once . `` There is a hansom at the door , '' he said , `` put on your bonnet and come . I will tell you all as we drive along ; come at once , we have not a moment to lose . '' Charlotte Home , accustomed as Home 's wife to imperative demands , only thought of a night 's nursing of some specially poor patient .