midnight
His economical habits became those of the wildest extravagance -- extravagance in which his wife and daughter were not likely to share . Little they saw of it either , save during his rare visits to his home . Then he either spent his evenings out , or else dining , smoking , drinking , disturbed the quiet house at Oldchurch . Many a time , till long after midnight , the mother and child sat listening to the gay tumult of voices below ; clinging to each other , pale and sad . Not that Captain Rothesay was unkind , or that either had any fear for him , for he had always been a strict and temperate man . But it pained them to think that any society seemed sweeter to him than that of his wife and daughter -- that any place was become dearer to him than his home . One night , when Mrs. Rothesay appeared exhausted , either with weariness or sorrow of heart , Olive persuaded her mother to go to rest , while she herself sat up for her father .