midnight
`` Oh , Love ' before thy glowing shrine My early vows were paid -- My hopes , my dreams , my heart was thine But these are now decayed . '' -- _ Byron _ It was a dark , heavy evening in midsummer . Great volumes of leaden gray clouds were piling one over the other in the sulky sky , the air was laden with an unshed moisture , and a threatening breeze rustled through the dry , dusty leaves of the crowded elms . There was an unnatural stillness in Nature -- everything looked drowsy and tired , the boughs swayed and nodded , and the flowers hung their sleepy heads like worn-out midnight watchers . Fifine had hoped madly for the storm to keep off , and now as her fleet steps brought her nearer the rendezvous at the end of the avenue , her heart misgave her , and an indescribable feeling of awe , that had something of a dread presentiment in it , filled her very soul . She pressed the cherished gift for her lover close against her heaving breast , and when she reached the shady nook where they were accustomed to meet , her breath was coming in wild gasps , and her eyes were dilated far beyond their natural size . She was a little too soon , but in her anxiety , watchmg the clouds , the moments sped quickly by , until the arrival of the man she so madly adored .