midnight
What more would you demand of any woman ? '' `` And yet -- '' The little Marquis waved a reproachful forefinger . `` Why , but , '' said the Duke , with utter comprehension , `` it is not for nothing that our house traces from the great Jurgen -- '' He was in a genial midnight mood , and , on other subjects , inclined to be garrulous ; for the world , viewed through a slight haze , of vinous origin , seemed a pleasant place , and inspired a kindly desire to say diverting things about the world 's contents . He knew the Marquis to be patient , and even stolid , under a fusillade of epigram and paradox ; in short , de Puysange knew the hour and the antagonist for midnight talk to be at hand . And a saturnalia of phrases whirled in his brain , demanding utterance . He waved them aside . Certain inbred ideas are strangely tenacious of existence , and it happened to be his wife they were discussing .