midnight
Also , her knees , I could see , were trembling , and her step had in it a certain hesitancy , a certain lack of assurance . Meanwhile , bending over the garden from the warm night sky , the moon 's kindly visage , though on the wane , was shining brightly ; and when the woman emerged from the shadow of the trees I could discern the dark patches of her eyes , her rounded , half-parted lips , and the thick plait of hair which lay across her bosom . Also , in the moonlight her bodice had assumed a bluish tinge , so that she looked almost phantasmal ; and when soundlessly , moving as though on air , she stepped back into the shadow of the trees , that shadow seemed to lighten . All this happened at midnight , or thereabouts , but neither of us was yet asleep , owing to the fact that Gubin had been telling me some interesting stories concerning the town and its families and inhabitants . However , as soon as he descried the woman looming like a ghost , he leapt to his feet in comical terror , then subsided on to the straw again , contracted his body as though he were in convulsions , and hurriedly made the sign of the cross . `` Oh Jesus our Lord ! '' he gasped .