midnight
`` Poor Prue , how I should pity you , '' I say triumphantly to my wife . `` Poor oldest daughter , how I should pity her , '' replies Prue , placidly counting her stitches . So the happy evening passes , as we gaily mock each other , and wonder how old the large aunt should be , and how many bundles she ought to bring with her . `` I would have her arrive by the late train at midnight , '' says Prue ; `` and when she had eaten some supper and had gone to her room , she should discover that she had left the most precious bundle of all in the cars , without whose contents she could not sleep , nor dress , and you would start to hunt for it . '' And the needle clicks faster than ever . `` Yes , and when I am gone to the office in the morning , and am busy about important affairs -- yes , Mrs. Prue , important affairs , '' I insist , as my wife half raises her head incredulously -- `` then our large aunt from the country would like to go shopping , and would want you for her escort . And she would cheapen tape at all the shops , and even to the great Stewart himself , she would offer a shilling less for the gloves .