midnight
Opposite the wall , where lay the bed , was a Gothic window , pretty large , with low sill , hung with poppy-figured muslin , and looking directly south , so that I could recline at ease in the red-velvet easy-chair , and see . It had evidently been a young lady 's room : for on the toilette were cut-glass bottles , a plait of brown hair , powders , _ rouge-aux-lèvres , _ one little bronze slipper , and knick-knacks , and I loved her and hated her , though I did not see her anywhere . About half-past eight I sat at the window to watch , all being arranged and ready at my right hand , the candles extinguished in the red room : for the theatre was opened , was opened : and the atmosphere of this earth seemed turned into Hell , and Hell was in my soul . * * * * * Soon after midnight there was a sudden and very visible increase in the conflagration . On all hands I began to see blazing structures soar , with grand hurrahs , on high . In fives and tens , in twenties and thirties , all between me and the remote limit of my vision , they leapt , they lingered long , they fell . My spirit more and more felt , and danced -- deeper mysteries of sensation , sweeter thrills .