midnight
Then the music came to an end in a series of defiant bangs , the curtain rolled itself out of sight , and a brilliant spectacle appeared . The only occupant of the scene at first was a gentleman in a thick black beard and fantastic garb who seemed to have acquired the habit of talking very loudly to himself . In this way the audience discovered that the gentleman , who was no less a personage than the Queen 's brother , was seriously dissatisfied with his royal brother-in-law , whose habits were of a nature which did not make for the harmony of his domestic circle . Then soft music was heard , and in lounged Sardanapalus himself -- a glittering figure in flowing robes of silver and pale blue , garlanded with flowers , and surrounded by a crowd of slaves and women all very elegantly dressed ; and it really was quite wonderful to notice how his Majesty lolled and languished about the stage , how beautifully affected all his gestures were , and with what a high-bred supercilious drawl he rolled out his behests that a supper should be served at midnight in the pavilion that commanded a view of the Euphrates . And this magnificent , absurd creature -- this mouthing , grimacing , attitudinising popinjay , thought Austin , was no other than Mr Bucephalus Buskin , with whom he had chatted on easy terms in a common field only a few days previously ! The memory of the umbrella , the tight frock-coat , the bald head , the fat , reddish face , and the rather rusty `` chimney-pot '' here recurred to him , and he nearly giggled out loud in thinking how irresistibly funny Mr Buskin would look if he were now going through all these fanciful gesticulations in his walking dress . The fact was that the man himself was perfectly unrecognisable , and Austin was mightily impressed by what was really a signal triumph in the art of making up .