midnight
`` Can a star mislead the blind ? I should veil myself in crimson if I have trained a bird to snatch sugar from full hands . Must even your womanhood reverse the clasps of your childhood ? '' `` It chimes midnight twice , '' I said -- a Martial phrase meaning , ` I am as much in the dark as ever . ' `` Do not translate it , carissima . I can read in your face that it is unjust -- reproachful where you deserve no reproach . '' `` Nay , when you so wrong my mother I must tell you exactly what she means : -- ` Can a child of the Star take advantage of one who relies on her to explain the customs of a world unknown to him ?