midnight
`` A pen , a pen , '' -- he cried , `` my kingdom for a pen . '' He was tugging at his gloves as he spoke , and in the clatter that he made , Barclay found the blank note and pushed it toward the table 's edge to Brownwell , who put his ornate copy-book signature upon it with a flourish . When he had gone , Barclay wrote a note to Jane telling her of Molly 's engagement to Brownwell , and then he sat posting his books , and figuring up his accounts . It was after midnight when he limped down the stairs , and the rain had ceased . But a biting wind like a cruel fate came out of the north , and he hurried through the deserted street , under lowering clouds that scurried madly across the stars . But John Barclay could not look up at the stars , he broke into a limping run and head downward plunged into the gale . And never in all his life could he take a square look at Molly Culpepper 's diamond ring .