a few minutes after midnight
The last time I saw the apparition was on the night of May 10th , 1529 , more than three years after my lady 's first coming to Pengersick . I was prepared for it : for she had been singing at her window a great part of the afternoon , and I had learnt to be warned by this mood . The night was a dark one , with flying clouds and a stiff breeze blowing up from the south-east . The flame left my lady 's window at the usual hour -- a few minutes after midnight -- but returned some while before its due time . In ordinary it would be away for an hour and a half , or from that to two hours , but this night I had scarcely begun my rounds before I saw it returning across the fields . Nor was this the only surprise . For as I watched it up the wall and saw it gain my lady 's window , I heard the hound within lift up its voice in a long , shuddering howl .