midnight
Why , it will gleam through the holes and make thee look like a jack-o ' - lantern ! '' `` To think , '' ejaculated the lord De Vere , rather to himself than his companions , the best of whom he held utterly unworthy of his intercourse -- `` to think that a fellow in a tattered cloak should talk of conveying the Great Carbuncle to a garret in Grubb street ! Have not I resolved within myself that the whole earth contains no fitter ornament for the great hall of my ancestral castle ? There shall it flame for ages , making a noonday of midnight , glittering on the suits of armor , the banners and escutcheons , that hang around the wall , and keeping bright the memory of heroes . Wherefore have all other adventurers sought the prize in vain but that I might win it and make it a symbol of the glories of our lofty line ? And never on the diadem of the White Mountains did the Great Carbuncle hold a place half so honored as is reserved for it in the hall of the De Veres . '' `` It is a noble thought , '' said the cynic , with an obsequious sneer .