midnight
For the proud elder sister keeps her sorrow to herself , eschewing sympathy , and scarce ever recurring to the past . On her side the younger rarely refers to it . She knows it would cause pain . Though once a reference to it has given pleasure to herself ; when Helen explained to her the mystery of that midnight plunge into the river . This , shortly after its occurrence ; soon as she herself came to a clear comprehension of it . It was no mystery after all . The face seen among the cypress tops was but the fancy of an overwrought brain ; while the spectral arms were the forking tines of a branch , which , catching upon the boat , in rebound had caught Helen Armstrong , first raising her aloft , then letting her drop out of their innocent , but withal dangerous , embrace .