midnight
`` I 'll be ready in two minutes . '' It was a brilliant moonlight night , as I said . Venice , the bride of the Adriatic , lay as if robed in silver for her wedding . The air was soft , late as the time of year was ; Dolly had no need of any but a light wrap to protect her in her midnight expedition . Rupert called a gondola , and presently they were gliding along , as still as ghosts , under the shadow of bridges , past glistening palace fronts , again in the deep shade of a wall of buildings . Wherever the light struck it was like molten silver ; façades and carvings stood sharply revealed ; every beauty of the weird city seemed heightened and spiritualised ; almost glorified ; while the silence , the outward peace , gave still more the impression of a place fair-like and unreal . It was truly a wonderful sail , a marvellous passage through an enchanted city , never to be forgotten by either of the two young people ; who went for some distance in a silence as if a spell were upon them too .