midnight
But he assented to her request with his unfailing gentle courtesy and went away at once . `` I will tell you in a few days , '' said Rosemary , with downcast eyes and burning face . When the door shut behind him she went back into the room and wrung her hands . At midnight Ellen West was walking home from the Pollock silver wedding . She had stayed a little while after the other guests had gone , to help the gray-haired bride wash the dishes . The distance between the two houses was not far and the road good , so that Ellen was enjoying the walk back home in the moonlight . The evening had been a pleasant one .