two o’clock in the
    morning
If you still insist upon making up the dress in the way you propose , I will see what Madame Dudevant can do for us , though I can not but advise you to alter your plans and make the darker shade of velvet do . I went to the Cary reception last night and met Lulu Chittenden . She has actually grown old , but was as lively as ever . She created a great stir in Paris when she was there ; but a husband who comes home two o'clock in the morning with bleared eyes and empty pockets , is not conducive to the preservation of a woman 's beauty . How she manages to retain her spirits I can not imagine . You ask me news of cousin Holman . I meet him occasionally and he looks well , but has grown into the most sombre man you ever saw .