midnight
And in that moment she knew that her marriage with Jim had become a final impossibility , and that it was imperative upon her to write at once and tell him so . She walked miles that day , and returned at length utterly wearied in body and mind . She was facing the hardest problem of her life . Not till after midnight was her letter to Jim finished , and even then she could not rest . Had she utterly ruined the boy 's life ? she wondered , as she sealed and directed her crude , piteous appeal for freedom . When the morning light came grey through her window she was still poring above a blank sheet of notepaper .