midnight
demanded the eager auditory . `` She pickit up the elder 's wife , sobbin ' and tearin ' her hair in strong hysterics . '' At the end of a relieved pause Sir Alan slowly concluded : `` It was said that the elder removed frae Aiblinnoch wi ' his wife , but no ' till he had effected a change of meenesters . '' It was already past midnight , and the party had dropped off one by one , with the exception of Deeside , Macquoich , the young Englishman , and a Scotch laird , who were playing poker -- an amusement which he understood they frequently protracted until three in the morning . It was nearly time for him to expect his mysterious visitant . Before he went upstairs he thought he would take a breath of the outer evening air , and throwing a mackintosh over his shoulders , passed out of the garden door of the billiard-room . To his surprise it gave immediately upon the fringe of laurel that hung over the chasm .