midnight
In the meantime , anybody who might enquire for Monsieur le Comte de Lorgnes should be directed to seek him in the café . Thither Lanyard dutifully repaired ; and wasted the rest of that evening , which he had thought would prove so amusing , watching Dupont and company watch de Lorgnes , to whom Dupont 's barely dissembled interest plainly meant nothing at all , but whose mental anguish grew to be all but unbearable . Nor did the quantities of veeskysoda consumed by the unhappy nobleman help him bear it , though undoubtedly he assured himself it did . By midnight he was more than half-fuddled and wholly in despair . Half an hour later he finished his eighth veeskysoda and wove an unsteady but most dignified way back to the foyer of the hotel . Immediately Dupont and his fellow , both markedly the worse for wear , paid and left the café . Lanyard returned to his room to get a new-bought travelling bag , and started for the train afoot , a neat brown paper parcel under one arm .