midnight
The half-emptied glasses were drained . Dickey Savage 's eyes met Quentin 's in a long look of perplexity . At last an almost imperceptible twinkle , suggestive of either mirth or skepticism , manifested itself in his friend 's eyes and the puzzled observer was satisfied . When , in the end , the diners pushed their chairs back from the table and passed into another room , it was far past midnight , and the real revelry of the night was at hand . Reckless , voluptuous women from the vaudeville houses and dance halls appeared , and for hours the wine-soaked scions of nobility reeked in those exhibitions which shock the sensibilities of true men . Four men there were who tried to conceal their disgust while the others roared out the applause of degenerates . `` I am not a saint , but this is more than I can stand .