midnight
The inconsistency of accepting these conditions ought to have struck a woman who had so long imagined herself the chase of fortune-hunters . But Clara apparently found nothing alarming in the demand of a man who openly acted upon his knowledge of what could only have been matter of conjecture to many suitors she had snubbed . She found nothing incongruous in the transaction , and she said , with as tremulous breath and as swift a pulse as if the question had been solely of herself , `` I accept -- the conditions . '' In the long , happy talk that lasted till midnight , they did not fail to recognize that , but for their common pity of Marcia , they might have remained estranged , and they were decently ashamed of their bliss when they thought of misery like hers . When Atherton rose to bid Clara good night , Marcia was still watching for Bartley , indulging for the last time the folly of waiting for him as if she definitely expected him that night . Every night since he disappeared , she had kept the lights burning in the parlor and hall , and drowsed before the fire till the dawn drove her to a few hours of sleep in bed . But with the coming of the stranger who was to be her companion , she must deny herself even this consolation , and openly accept the fact that she no longer expected Bartley at any given time .