midnight
She dropped as she reached her house -- from an affection of the heart which she knew herself and her physician knew her to have , but of which , patiently , bravely she had never spoken to me . '' He listened intently and for a minute he was unable to speak . At last he broke out with an accent of which the almost boyish confidence , the really sublime simplicity rings in my ears as I write : `` Was n't she _ wonderful _ ! '' Even at the time I was able to do it justice enough to remark in reply that I had always told him so ; but the next minute , as if after speaking he had caught a glimpse of what he might have made me feel , he went on quickly : `` You see that if she did n't get home till midnight -- '' I instantly took him up . `` There was plenty of time for you to have seen her ? How so , '' I inquired , `` when you did n't leave my house till late ? I do n't remember the very moment -- I was preoccupied .