midnight
So far she knew , and despite her strange terror of their first meeting , she longed to hear him tell her how he had overcome the opposition of Father Gordon . The Gospel ended , the little congregation sat down , and Evelyn reflected how much more difficult belief was to her than to the slightly-deformed woman in front of her . The doctrine that a merciful God has prepared a place of eternal torment for his erring creatures is hard enough to credit . She did n't think she could ever believe that again ; or that God had sent his Son on earth to expiate on the cross the sins which he and his Father in conjunction with the Holy Ghost had fated them to commit ; or that bread and wine becomes , at the bidding of the priest , the creator of all the stars we see at midnight . True that she believed these doctrines no longer , but , unfortunately , this advancement brought her no nearer to the solution of the question directly affecting her life . Owen encouraged her to persevere in her agnosticism . `` Old instincts , '' he said , `` are not conquered at once .