nine in the
evening
And the moth circled closer and closer until at last its velvet wings just brushed his lips ... . And next morning they found him dead with his neck broken in the bottom of the stone pit , with his beautiful clothes a little bloody and foul and stained with the duckweed from the pond . But his face was a face of such happiness that , had you seen it , you would have understood indeed how that he had died happy , never knowing the cool and streaming silver for the duckweed in the pond . Some business had detained me in Chancery Lane nine in the evening , and thereafter , having some inkling of a headache , I was disinclined either for entertainment or further work . So much of the sky as the high cliffs of that narrow canon of traffic left visible spoke of a serene night , and I determined to make my way down to the Embankment , and rest my eyes and cool my head by watching the variegated lights upon the river . Beyond comparison the night is the best time for this place ; a merciful darkness hides the dirt of the waters , and the lights of this transitional age , red glaring orange , gas-yellow , and electric white , are set in shadowy outlines of every possible shade between grey and deep purple . Through the arches of Waterloo Bridge a hundred points of light mark the sweep of the Embankment , and above its parapet rise the towers of Westminster , warm grey against the starlight .