midnight
I count the evening of my paper the beginning of the movement that created the BLUE WEEKLY and our wing of the present New Tory party . I do that without any excessive egotism , because my essay was no solitary man 's production ; it was my reaction to forces that had come to me very large through my fellow-members ; its quick reception by them showed that I was , so to speak , merely the first of the chestnuts to pop . The atmospheric quality of the evening stands out very vividly in my memory . The night , I remember , was warmly foggy when after midnight we went to finish our talk at my house . We had recently changed the rules of the club to admit visitors , and so it happened that I had brought Britten , and Crupp introduced Arnold Shoesmith , my former schoolfellow at City Merchants , and now the wealthy successor of his father and elder brother . I remember his heavy , inexpressively handsome face lighting to his rare smile at the sight of me , and how little I dreamt of the tragic entanglement that was destined to involve us both . Gane was present , and Esmeer , a newly-added member , but I think Bailey was absent .