midnight
As it was , he had sent a message upstairs , inviting himself to dinner , solely for the purpose of seeing Carmina again -- and he had been bitterly disappointed when he heard that Mr. and Mrs. Gallilee were engaged , and that his cousin would take tea in her room . He had eaten something at this club , without caring what it was . He had gone to the Opera afterwards , merely because his recollections of a favourite singing-lady of that season vaguely reminded him of Carmina . And there he was , at midnight , on his return from the music , eager for the next opportunity of seeing his cousin , a few hours hence -- when he had arranged to say good-bye at the family breakfast-table . To feel this change in him as vividly as he felt it , could lead to but one conclusion in the mind of a man who was incapable of purposely deceiving himself . He was as certain as ever of the importance of rest and change , in the broken state of his health . And yet , in the face of that conviction , his contemplated sea-voyage had already become one of the vanished illusions of his life !