midnight
In part only . For Peter the Reader , and his especial associates , were safe in sanctuary at the Caesareum , clinging to the altar . Terrified at the storm which they had raised , and fearing the consequences of an attack upon the palace , they had left the mob to run riot at its will ; and escaped the swords of the Goths to be reserved for the more awful punishment of impunity . It was near midnight . Raphael had been sitting some three hours in Miriam 's inner chamber , waiting in vain for her return . To recover , if possible , his ancestral wealth ; to convey it , without a day 's delay , to Cyrene ; and , if possible , to persuade the poor old Jewess to accompany him , and there to soothe , to guide , perhaps to convert her , was his next purpose : -- at all events , with or without his wealth , to flee from that accursed city . And he counted impatiently the slow hours and minutes which detained him in an atmosphere which seemed reeking with innocent blood , black with the lowering curse of an avenging God .