midnight
He knew what woman can be , and without disappointment ; for he did not choose to reckon up those small , almost impalpable things which , like passing shadows , had now and then brought a faint obscurity into his life with Rosamund , as disappointments . They came , perhaps , from himself . And what where they ? He looked out over the long stretch of unruffled water , filmed over with ice near the shores , and saw a tiny dark object traveling through it with self-possession and an air of purpose beneath the constellations ; some aquatic bird up to something , heedless of the approaching midnight and the Great Bear . `` Look at that little beggar ! '' said Daventry . `` And we do n't know so very much more about it all than he does .