nine
o'clock
Oh , here comes dear Madame Saville ! '' There were fresh cries of welcome , fresh exchanges of affectionate diminutives and kisses , which seemed to make the Prince 's mouth water . Jacqueline discovered , to her great surprise , that she , too , was a dear friend of Madame Saville 's , who called her her good angel , in reference , no doubt , to the letter she had secretly put into the post . At last she said , trying to make her escape from the party : `` But it must be nine o'clock . '' `` Oh ! but -- you must hear Szmera . '' A handsome young fellow , stoutly built , with heavy eyebrows , a hooked nose , a quantity of hair growing low upon his forehead , and lips that were too red , the perfect type of a Hungarian gypsy , began a piece of his own composition , which had all the ardor of a mild ` galopade ' and a Satanic hunt , with intervals of dying sweetness , during which the painted skeleton they called the Countess declared that she certainly heard a nightingale warbling in the moonlight .