midnight
At first , he saw nothing but darkened glass , resembling plates of glittering ink . The night , the vast , impenetrable sketched behind as far as the invisible horizon . He remained standing in front of this illimitable shadow , and suddenly he perceived a light , a moving light , which seemed some distance away . Then he put his face close to the window-pane , thinking that a person looking for crayfish might be poaching in the Brindelle , for it was past midnight , and this light rose up at the edge of the stream , under the trees . As he was not yet able to see clearly , Renardet placed his hands over his eyes ; and suddenly this light became an illumination , and he beheld little Louise Roqué naked and bleeding on the moss . He recoiled frozen with horror , sank into his chair , and fell backward . He remained there some minutes , his soul in distress , then he sat up and began to reflect .