midnight
It 's my duty to settle -- '' Elizabeth interrupted him . `` Philip darling ! -- '' She was hanging over his chair , while Anderson stood a few feet away , leaning against the mantelpiece , his face turned from the brother and sister . The intimacy -- solemnity almost -- of the sick-room , the midnight hour , seemed to strike through Elizabeth 's being , deepening and yet liberating emotion . `` Dear Philip ! It is not for Mr. Anderson to answer you -- it is for me . If he could give up his country -- for happiness -- even for love -- I should never marry him -- for -- I should not love him any more . ''