midnight
Within me a furtive tenderness was growing which sometimes shamed , sometimes angered me , or left me self-contemptuous , restless , or dully astonished that my pride permitted it . For in my heart such sentiments for such a maid as this -- tenderness , consciousness of some subtlety about her that attracted me -- should have no place . There was every reason why I should pity her and offer aid ; none why her grey eyes should hold my own ; none why the frail body of her in her rags should quicken any pulse of mine ; none why my nearness to her should stop my heart and breath . Yet , all day long her face and slim shape haunted me -- a certain sullen sweetness of the lips , too -- and I remembered the lithe grace of her little hands as she broke the morsels of that midnight meal and lifted the cup of chilly water in which I saw the star-light dancing . And `` Lord ! '' thought I , amazed at my own folly . `` What madness lies in these midsummer solitudes , that I should harbor such fantastic thoughts ? ''