8 o'clock
`` We 're going up to the café , ai n't we ? '' I was greatly minded to turn on my heel and tell him to go to the deuce , if he chose . But his manner was wholly ingenuous , and `` after all , '' I said to myself , `` I 'm tired and he 's amusing . It 's something after 8 o'clock and no one will be here at such an hour . '' At all events I disliked a scene , and so I simply acquiesced , and took him to a quiet corner of the large dining-room , where I seated myself in such a way as to have my back to whomsoever might come in . Without consulting the taste of my guest , I ordered a steak with mushrooms , potatoes , a salad , dessert and a bottle of claret , and began to read the evening paper . For perhaps ten minutes we both were silent .