midnight
But at dinner he had plainly forgot any offence , and I had more cause than ever to be puzzled over his odd mixture of confidence and aloofness . He talked gayly on a score of subjects , -- on dress , of which he was never tired , and described ports in the Indies and South America , in a fashion that betrayed prodigious powers of acute observation ; nor did he lack for wit when he spoke of the rich planters who had wined him , and had me much in laughter . We fell into a merry mood , in Booth , jingling the glasses in many toasts , for he had a list of healths to make me gasp , near as long as the brigantine 's articles , -- Inez in Havana and Maraquita in Cartagena , and Clotilde , the Creole , of Martinico , each had her separate charm . Then there was Bess , in Kingston , the relict of a customs official , Captain Paul relating with ingenuous gusto a midnight brush with a lieutenant of his Majesty , in which the fair widow figured , and showed her preference , too . But his adoration for the ladies of the more northern colonies , he would have me to understand , was unbounded . For example , Miss Arabella Pope of Norfolk , in Virginia , -- and did I know her ? No , I had not that pleasure , though I assured him the Popes of Virginia were famed .