midnight
_ That _ , ' said the attorney , flushing a little , ` I believe to have been technically impossible ; and it was accompanied by a proposition which was on other grounds untenable . ' ` You mean Miss Lake 's proposed residence here -- an arrangement , it appears to me , every way most desirable . ' ` I objected to it on , I will say , _ moral _ grounds , my lord . It is painful to me to disclose what I know , but that young lady accompanied Mr. Mark Wylder , my lord , in his midnight flight from Dollington , and remained in London , under , I presume , his protection for some time . ' ` That statement , Sir , is , I happen to _ know _ , utterly contrary to fact . The young lady you mention never even saw Mr. Mark Wylder , since she took leave of him in the drawing-room at Brandon ; and I state this not in vindication of her , but to lend weight to the caution I give you against ever again presuming to connect her name with your surmises . ' The peer 's countenance was so inexpressibly stern , and his eyes poured such a stream of fire upon the attorney , that he shrank a little , and looked down upon his great fingers which were drumming , let us hope , some sacred music upon the table .