about ten o'clock
Nearly everybody present already knew nearly everybody else . There were only five or six guests from out of town , and of these Mme. Josephine Ybanca , wife of the great South American diplomat , and Miss Evelyn Ballister , sister of the distinguished Western statesman , were by odds the handsomest . Of women there were more than men ; there usually are more women than men in evidence at such affairs . At about ten o'clock , Mrs. Hadley-Smith stood out on the floor under the arch connecting but not exactly separating the joined rooms . `` Listen , please , everybody ! '' she called , and the motley company , obeying the summons , clustered about her . `` The musicians wo n't be here until midnight .