midnight
A short cloak hung from his left shoulder , trimmed also with silver lace , and a little cataract of silver fringe fell from the edges of his short trousers into the wide tops of his boots , which were adorned with ruffles . He wore a large collar of lace , and cuffs of the same were folded back from his bare hands . A broad-brimmed beaver hat , its silver band fastened with a jewel holding a plume of willowy feathers , completed his attire , which he wore with just the slightest of a jaunty air . It was hardly the dress for a walk at midnight , but he had come in his mother 's carriage , and had to go home without it . Alas now for Richard 's share in the freedom to which he had of late imagined himself devoted ! No sooner had the words last spoken entered his ears than he was but a driven slave ready to rush into any quarrel with the man who spoke them . Ere he had gone three paces he had stepped in front of him .