midnight
`` I had to speak to you without waiting for morning , '' she told him , recognizing his voice , `` and yet -- yet I do n't know what to say . '' Recognizing from the wild note that she was laboring under some unnatural strain , he answered soothingly , `` I 'm glad you called me , dear . '' `` What time is it ? '' she demanded next and when he told her it was well after midnight she gave a low half-hysterical laugh . `` I could n't sleep ... . Father spent the afternoon exhorting me ... he was trying to make me promise not to see you again ... and I was trying to keep him from exciting himself . '' Her voice was so tense now as to be hardly recognizable .