midnight
If Camille loved him how could he come there to adore Beatrix ? He saw no solution to these difficulties . Insensibly to him silence now reigned in the house ; he heard , but without noticing , the opening and shutting of doors . Then suddenly midnight sounded on the clock of the adjoining bedroom , and the voices of Claude and Camille roused him fully from his torpid contemplation of the future . Before he could rise and show himself , he heard the following terrible words in the voice of Claude Vignon . `` You came to Paris last year desperately in love with Calyste , '' Claude was saying to Felicite , `` but you were horrified at the thought of the consequences of such a passion at your age ; it would lead you to a gulf , to hell , to suicide perhaps . Love can not exist unless it thinks itself eternal , and you saw not far before you a horrible parting ; old age you knew would end the glorious poem soon .