midnight
There was beauty in abundance , diamonds in masses , and a Royal Highness from the Court , an insignificant little man , it is true , with a star and a stutter , who stared at every one , and spoke to nobody . Still he was the centre of a glittering group of handsome aides-de-camp , who displayed their fascinations in every gesture and look . Apart from the great flood-tide of pleasure , down which so many float buoyantly , there is ever on these occasions a deeper current that flows beneath , of human wile and cunning and strategy , just as , in many a German fairy tale , some curious and recondite philosophy lies hid beneath the little incidents related to amuse childhood . It would lead us too far from the path of our story were we to seek for this `` tiny thread amid the woof ; '' enough for our present purpose if we slightly advert to it , by asking our reader to accompany us to the small chamber which called Albert Jekyl master , and where now , at midnight , a little table of three covers was laid for supper . Three flasks of champagne stood in a little ice-pail in one corner , and on a dumbwaiter was arranged a dessert , which , for the season , displayed every charm of rarity . A large bouquet of moss-roses and camellias ornamented the centre of the board , and shed a pleasant odor through the room . The servant , whose dress and look bespoke him a waiter from a restaurant in the neighborhood , had just completed all the arrangements of the table , placing chairs around it , and heaped fresh wood upon the hearth , when a carriage drew up at the door .