midnight
Yet what fortitude would be needed ere she could break this flowery bondage , loosen these dear fetters which love had laid upon her ! Once , during that jovial Christmas season , she hinted at a possible change in the future . ` What a happy day this has been ! ' she said as she walked across the wintry fields with Miss Wendover on the verge of midnight , after a Christmas dinner and a long evening of Christmas games at The Knoll , Needham marching in front of them with an unnecessary lantern , and all the stars of heaven shining in blue frosty brilliance above their heads , ` and what a happy home ! I feel it is a privilege to have seen so much of it ; and by-and-by , when I am among strangers -- ' ` What do you mean ? ' exclaimed Aunt Betsy , sharply ; ` there is to be no such by-and-by ; or , if there ever be such a time , it will be your making , not mine . You suit me capitally , and I mean to keep you as long as ever I can , without absolute selfishness .