midnight
At last Helene was alone in her room . With closed doors she spent a miserable evening beside the dead fire . Her will was failing her ; thoughts that found no utterance were stirring within the innermost recesses of her heart . At midnight she wearily sought her bed , but there her torture passed endurance . She dozed , she tossed from side to side as though a fire were beneath her . She was haunted by visions which sleeplessness enlarged to a gigantic size . Then an idea took root in her brain .