three in the
morning
Towards the end of dinner , the head waiter interrupted their conversation . He lingered about the table , anxious to hear something of Lord Ascott 's two-year-olds ; but , in the smoking-room over their coffee , they returned to the more vital question -- the sentimental affections . They were agreed that the pleasure of love is in loving , not in being loved , and their reasons were incontrovertible . `` It is the letters , '' said Harding , `` that we write at three in the morning to tell her how enchanting she was ; it is the flowers we send , the words of love that we speak in her ear , that are our undoing . So long as we are indifferent , they love us . '' `` Quite true . At first I did not care for her as much as she did for me , and I noticed that as soon as I began to fall in love -- '' `` To aspire , to suffer .