About midnight
Mrs. D'Alton was mortified ; she had imagined that those people whom she met at the seaside would have judged her on her merits , and would not have taken the trouble to inquire concerning her antecedents . She did not calculate that , what may be allowable at a summer resort , would not be tolerated in Montreal society ; moreover , that the tongue of slander had been busily engaged in painting her even blacker than she really was , so that these people , even if personally disposed to associate with her , _ dared _ not do so lest they might lose their own insecure foothold on the ladder of social position . In moody silence she presided throughout the entire evening ; she was enraged at herself and at the poor enslaved creatures who , though anxious to go and enjoy themselves yet dared not infringe the rules laid down by society ; and , as she drank glass after glass of her husband 's famous Moselle , she became more and more despondent . About midnight Amy Watson , the sister of the nursery-governess , took her departure , and Mr. D'Alton with his friends , went up to the billiard room to enjoy themselves at their favorite game . It was near daylight ere they grew tired of pocketing the ivory spheres , and left their host to close the doors , and retire to his room . When he did so what a sight met his gaze ! There lay his wife in all the finery she had arrayed herself to dazzle her fashionable acquaintances , _ a speechless corpse _ !