midnight
I tried , too , to induce him to tell me what he knew of her , but he would say nothing beyond what I already knew . `` I wonder she do n't marry , '' I remarked at last ; but to this he made no response , though I fancied that in the half light I detected a curious smile upon his face , as though he was aware that we had been lovers . He deftly turned the conversation , though he became more bitter , as if his life was now even more soured than formerly . Then , at midnight , he took his hat and stick , and I opened the gate of the drive and let him out upon the road . As he left , he grasped my hand warmly , and in a voice full of emotion said -- `` Good-night , Ewart . May you be rewarded one day for keeping from starvation a good-for-nothing devil like myself ! '' And he passed on into the darkness beneath the trees , on his way back to his high-up humble room down in the heart of the town .