midnight
The third day after his arrival he renewed his pleading , trying first to compliment me , saying : `` What a royal woman you are , and how queenly you look with your massive braids of midnight hair fastened with such an exquisite comb ! '' -LRB- Louis ' gift -RRB- . `` Midnight hair , '' I said . `` I 've seen many a midnight when I could read in its moonlight ; black as a crow would be nearer the truth , '' and I laughed . The next sentence was addressed to my teeth . He liked to see me laugh and show my teeth ; they looked like pearls . `` I wish they were , '' I said , `` I 'd sell them and buy a nice little house for poor Matthias to live in . ''