midnight
At that moment there was a pause . A gentleman , the Marquis de Feuquieres , had come in , bringing with him a very young lad , in the plian black gown and white collar of a theological student ; and it was made known that the Marquis had been boasting of the wonderful facility of a youth was studying at the College of Navarre , and had declared that he could extemporise with eloquence upon any subject . Some one had begged that the youth might be fetched and set to preach on a text proposed to him at the moment , and here he was . Madame de Rambouillet hesitated a little at the irreverence , but the Duke of Enghien requested that the sermon might take place , and she consented , only looking at her watch and saying it was near midnight , so that the time was short . M. Voiture , the poet , carried round a velvet bag , and each was to write a text on a slip of paper to be drawn out at haphazard . We two showed each other what we wrote . My husband 's was -- ` Love is strong as death ; ' mine -- ` Let the wife cleave unto her husband . '