Midnight
Then you may go to bed , Pipa . I am busy , and shall sit up late . '' Pipa curtsied in silence , and closed the marchesa 's door . Midnight had struck from the church-clock at Corellia . The strokes seemed to come slower by night than day , and sounded hollower . Hours ago the last light had gone out . The moon had set behind the cleft summits of La Pagna .