an hour after midnight
And now as she felt the advance of the Enemy and saw the shadow growing darker across the bed her obstinacy hardened like tempered steel . `` No , '' she murmured , her brows levelled , her lips compressed , `` she shall not die . I will not let her go . '' A little later , perhaps an hour after midnight , at a time when she believed Hattie to be asleep , Lloyd , watchful as ever , noted that her cheeks began alternately to puff out and contract with her breathing . In an instant the nurse was on her feet . She knew the meaning of this sign . Hattie had fainted while asleep .