midnight
She was engaged upon a more artistic production than ever came from Molly 's work-basket . Once she consulted Mrs. Carew about the colour of a skein of wool , but otherwise showed no inclination to avoid topics in any manner connected with Christian , despite the fact that these were obviously distasteful to her family . In all that she said , indifference was blended in a singular way with imperturbable cheerfulness . Thus they waited until after midnight , pretending bravely to work and read as if there were no such feeling as suspense in the human heart . Then Mrs. Carew persuaded the young people to go to bed . She had letters to write , and would not be ready for hours . If Christian did not appear by the time that she was sleepy , she would wake Sidney .