two o'clock in the morning
My nephew desired , without effort or merit , to be a perfect man , and -- see how it has ended ! The important thing now is that he shall make a good husband , and that , since he is unsuited for great things , he may be fit for smaller ones -- for domestic life , and to make Pepita happy , whose only fault , after all , is to have fallen madly in love with him , with all the ingenuousness and violence of an untamed creature . '' * * * * * Thus far the comments of the reverend dean , written with easy familiarity , as if for himself alone ; for the good man was far from suspecting that I would play him the trick of giving them to the public . * * * * * Don Luis , in the middle of the street , at two o'clock in the morning , was occupied with the thought , as we have said , that his life , that until now he had dreamed might be worthy of the `` Golden Legend , '' was about to be converted into a sweet and perpetual idyl . He had not been able to resist the lures of earthly passion . He had failed to imitate the example set by so many saints , among others by St. Vincent Ferrer with regard , to a certain dissolute lady of Valencia ; though , indeed , the cases were dissimilar . For if to flee from the diabolical courtesan in question was an act of heroic virtue in St. Vincent , to flee from the self-abandonment , the ingenuousness , and the humility of Pepita would , in him , have been something as monstrous and cruel as if , when Ruth lay down at the feet of Boaz , saying to him , `` I am thy handmaid ; spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid , '' Boaz had given her a blow and sent her about her business !