eleven o'clock at night
About that time , my uncle took into his firm , as junior partner , a young man who had long been a clerk in the house . After his promotion he often came home with my uncle to dinner . I think this was done , perhaps , with a view of civil treatment , on the first occasion ; but afterward , it was continued because my uncle could not bear to leave business when he left the office , and because he could talk on the matters which were dearer to him than his dinner , with this junior , in whom he took unqualified delight . He often wrote letters in the evening , which my uncle dictated , and he sometimes did not go away till eleven o'clock at night . The first time he came , I did not notice him very much . It was not unusual for Uncle Leonard to be accompanied by some gentleman who talked business with him during dinner ; and being naturally shy , and moreover , on this occasion , in the middle of a very interesting book , at once timid and indifferent , I slipped away from the table the moment that I could . But upon the third or fourth occasion of his being there , I became interested , finding often a pair of handsome eyes fixed on me , and being occasionally addressed and made a partner in the conversation .