about
nine o'clock
She declared that it was _ la grâce et la beauté _ , etc. . The merriment did not cease until half-past six . Some of the company then left , and some few were detained for dinner . A new pianist and fresh officers arrived about nine o'clock , and dancing was continued until one or two in the morning . To yawning subalterns the house in Mount Street seemed at first like a little paradise . The incessant dancing was considered fatiguing , but there were interludes in which claret was drunk , cigarettes smoked , and loose conversation permitted in the dining-room . Then the dinners !