midnight
`` During the evening , I paid a visit to a noted '' _ boozing ken _ '' in St. Giles ' , which bore the very suitable appellation of the `` Jolly Thieves . '' Here I engaged two desperate fellows of my acquaintance -- -LRB- for I went on a _ crack _ , now and then , myself , just to keep my hand in , -RRB- -- to make away with the body of Lagrange ; they were to come to the rear of my master 's house , an hour after midnight , provided with a sack and some means of conveyance ; and , for a liberal reward , they promised to carry off the corpse , and , having attached a heavy weight to it , sink it in the Thames , -- although I felt assured in my own mind , that , instead of giving it to the fishes , they would make a more profitable disposition of it , by selling it to some surgeon for dissection ; -- body-snatching being a part of their profession , as well as burglary and murder . Having made this important arrangement , and paid them a good round sum in advance , -LRB- for I was well provided with money , -RRB- I returned to my master 's house , which I reached about eleven o'clock . `` At length the welcome midnight hour arrived , and with a beating heart I repaired to the chamber of her ladyship . It was a large apartment , furnished with exquisite taste and elegance , -- in fact , a perfect bower of the graces ; and , to my somewhat voluptuous mind , not the least attractive feature of it , was a magnificent and luxurious _ bed _ , mysteriously hidden beneath a profuse cloud of snowy drapery , heavily laden with costly lace . I had already pictured to myself the delights of an amorous dalliance within that bower of Venus , with one whose glorious beauty could not have been surpassed by that of the ardent goddess herself -- but how grievously was I doomed to be disappointed , at the very moment when I fancied my triumph certain ! But I must not anticipate my story .