eleven
o'clock
His Grace was very splendid in black-and-gold , wearing his two stars of the Garter and the Thistle , for there was that night a ball at Lady Sandwich 's , and Royalty was to embellish it . In consequence , Ormskirk meant to show his plump face there for a quarter of an hour ; and the rooms would be too hot -LRB- he peevishly reflected -RRB- , and the light would tire his eyes , and Laventhrope would button-hole him again about that appointment for Laventhrope 's son , and the King would give vent to some especially fat-witted jest , and Ormskirk would apishly grin and applaud . And afterward he would come home with a headache , and ghostly fiddles would vex him all night long with their thin incessancy . `` Accordingly , '' the Duke decided , `` I shall not stir a step until eleven o'clock . The King , in the ultimate , is only a tipsy , ignorant old German debauchee , and I have half a mind to tell him so . Meantime , he can wait . '' The Duke sat down to consider this curious lassitude , this indefinite vexation , which had possessed him .