midnight
` I 'll do some of them , ' said Leonard . ` Let us go down now the coast is clear , if the fire is not out . ' They went down softly , Mab and all , nursed up the fire that Henry had raked out ; and if Saturnalia could be held over the writing out of a hymn tune , they did it ! At any rate , it had the charm of an assertion of independence ; and to Averil it was something like a midnight meeting of persecuted Christians -- to Leonard it was ` great fun . ' That evening was not a solitary specimen . Averil and Leonard intended to obviate causes of offence ; but they were young and heedless , and did not feel bound to obedience . A very little temptation made them forget or defy Henry 's fancies ; and Leonard was easily lashed into answers really unbecoming and violent , for which he could not bring himself to be sorry , when he thought over the petty interference and annoyance that had caused them .