midnight
But she carried on , in addition , an animated correspondence with numberless frauds -- antique dealers , charities , professional poor relations , social workers , and others of that ilk -- which proved tremendously diverting to her amanuensis , especially when it transpired that Mrs. Gosnold had a mind and temper of her own , together with a vocabulary amply adequate to her powers of ironic observation . This last gift came out strongly in her diary , a daily record of her various interests and activities which she dictated , interspersing dry details with many an acid annotation . When all was finished Sally found she had been busied for little more than two hours , and was given to understand that her duties would be made more burdensome only by the addition of a little light bookkeeping when she settled down to the routine of regular employment . Of the alleged high play , at cards or otherwise , she had yet , at this third midnight , to see any real evidence . Mrs. Gosnold most undoubtedly played a stiff game of bridge , but she played it with a masterly facility , the outcome of long practice and profound study ; her losses , when she lost , were minimised . Nor was there ever a sign of cheating that came under Sally 's observation . Everybody played who did n't dance , and vice versa , but nobody seemed to play for the mere sake of winning money .