midnight
Feeling his way with his cane , he went to the parlour door , where he stood for a moment at the threshold , his streaming eyes fixed upon the portrait over the mantel . The simple dignity of his grief forbade a word from any one . At length he straightened himself , brought his trembling hand to his forehead in a feeble military salute , and , wiping his eyes , tottered off downhill . The Lady Elaine knows her Heart _ It was on a dark and stormy midnight , when the thunders boomed and the dread fury of the lightnings scarred the overhanging cliffs , that the Lady Elaine at last came to know her heart . _ _ She was in a cave , safe from all but the noise of the storm . A cheery fire blazed at her door , and her bed within was made soft with pine boughs and skins . For weeks they had journeyed here and there , yet there had been no knight in whose face Elaine could find what she sought .