midnight
Vigfusson sat down on the moss-grown rock and pondered . How long he sat there he did not know , but when he rose and looked around , Aasa was gone . Then remembering her father 's request to bring her home , he hastened up the hill-side toward the mansion , and searched for her in all directions . It was near midnight when he returned to Kvaerk , where Aasa sat in her high gable window , still humming the weird melody of the old ballad . By what reasoning Vigfusson arrived at his final conclusion is difficult to tell . If he had acted according to his first and perhaps most generous impulse , the matter would soon have been decided ; but he was all the time possessed of a vague fear of acting dishonorably , and it was probably this very fear which made him do what , to the minds of those whose friendship and hospitality he had accepted , had something of the appearance he wished so carefully to avoid . Aasa was rich ; he had nothing ; it was a reason for delay , but hardly a conclusive one .