midnight
There 's nothing between me and Wilf that I should want to hide from Aunt Creddle . '' For without knowing it , Miss Ethel had touched upon a delicate point which Caroline was far more sensitive about than Laura -- for instance -- would have been ; because girls of Caroline 's sort have to guard their chastity themselves , while those like Laura are careless , because it has always been guarded for them by somebody else . Still Miss Ethel saw that Caroline was offended , so added after a pause : `` If Mrs. Creddle approves of your going , of course it is not my affair . But you must see for yourself that I could not let a girl under my roof stay out until midnight without asking the question . That would be fair neither to you nor to myself . '' `` No , '' muttered Caroline . `` I did n't mean anything either .