midnight
Weeks passed thus . April went out ; and now it is the twenty-third of May . On the twenty-ninth -- six days off -- the stars , so we have seen , will permit an assault . And on this day the time is verging midnight . Between the sky and the beleaguered town a pall of clouds is hanging thick . At intervals light showers filter through the pall , and the drops fall perpendicularly , for there is no wind . And the earth has its wrap of darkness , only over the seven hills of the old capital it appears to be in double folds oppressively close .