midnight
`` What think you of my choice ? '' said I. Isora looked upward , but did not answer ; and as I gazed upon her -LRB- while the pale light of heaven streamed quietly upon her face -RRB- with her dark eyes , where the tear yet lingered , though rather to soften than to dim ; with her noble , yet tender features , over which hung a melancholy calm ; with her lips apart , and her rich locks wreathing over her marble brow , and contrasted by a single white rose -LRB- that rose I have now -- I would not lose one withered leaf of it for a kingdom ! -RRB- , -- her beauty never seemed to me of so rare an order , nor did my soul ever yearn towards her with so deep a love . It was past midnight . All was hushed in our bridal chamber . The single lamp , which hung above , burned still and clear ; and through the half-closed curtains of the window , the moonlight looked in upon our couch , quiet and pure and holy , as if it were charged with blessings . `` Hush ! ''