midnight
`` Go , '' said my mother , in a faint voice . `` God will protect you . I feel that He will , my good , brave Gabriella . '' I kissed her white cheek with passionate tenderness , cast a glance of anguish on Peggy 's fearfully altered face , then ran out into the chill , dark midnight . At first I could scarcely discern the sandy path I had so often trodden , for no moon lighted up the gloom of the hour , and even the stars glimmered faintly through a grey and cloudy atmosphere . As I hurried along , the wind came sighing through the trees with such inexpressible sadness , it seemed whispering mournfully of the dark secrets of nature . Then it deepened into a dull , roaring sound , like the murmurs of the ocean tide ; but even as I went on the melancholy wind pursued me like an invisible spirit , winding around me its chill , embracing arms .