midnight
So much was done and gone , that when I went out at the gate , the light of the day seemed of a darker color than when I went in . For a while , I hid myself among some lanes and by-paths , and then struck off to walk all the way to London . For , I had by that time come to myself so far as to consider that I could not go back to the inn and see Drummle there ; that I could not bear to sit upon the coach and be spoken to ; that I could do nothing half so good for myself as tire myself out . It was past midnight when I crossed London Bridge . Pursuing the narrow intricacies of the streets which at that time tended westward near the Middlesex shore of the river , my readiest access to the Temple was close by the river-side , through Whitefriars . I was not expected till to-morrow ; but I had my keys , and , if Herbert were gone to bed , could get to bed myself without disturbing him . As it seldom happened that I came in at that Whitefriars gate after the Temple was closed , and as I was very muddy and weary , I did not take it ill that the night-porter examined me with much attention as he held the gate a little way open for me to pass in .