midnight
`` Yes . We are to have the society of no less a person than the Professor Cornelio Grandi , of the University of Rome . He will go with us , and be a witness . '' `` Yes , '' said Hedwig , expecting more , `` a witness -- '' `` A witness of our marriage , dear lady ; I trust to-morrow , -- or to-day , since midnight is past . '' He leaned far over his saddle-bow , as the mules clambered up the rough place . Her hand went out to him , and he took it . They were so near that I could see them .