seven o'clock
People dined earlier forty years ago than they do now . Even that salt of the earth , the elect of society , represented by that little great world which lies between the narrow circle bounded by Bryanstone Square on the north and by Birdcage Walk on the south , did not consider seven o'clock too early an hour for a dinner party which was to be followed by routs , drums , concerts , conversazione , as the case might be . It was seven o'clock on a lovely June evening , and the Park was already deserted , and carriages were rolling swiftly along all the Westend squares , carrying rank , fashion , wealth , and beauty , political influence , and intellectual power , to the particular circle in which each was destined to illumine upon that particular evening . Stateliest among London squares , Grosvenor -- in some wise a wonder to the universe as newly lighted with gas -- grave Grosvenor , with its heavy old Georgian houses and pompous porticoes , sparkled and shone , not alone with the novel splendour of gas , but with the light of many wax candles , clustering flower-like in silver branches and girandoles , multiplying their flame in numerous mirrors ; and of all the houses in that stately square none had a more imposing aspect than Lord Denyer 's dark red brick mansion , with stone dressings , and the massive grandeur of an Egyptian mausoleum . Lord Denyer was an important personage in the political and diplomatic world .