ten o’clock
I am happy to be able to observe , _ en passant _ , that the latter gentleman was not hanged at all , but escaped , after a deal of diplomatic correspondence , with a six weeks ' imprisonment in the fortress of Comorn , and has since been seen taking his pleasure in London and elsewhere . To return to Monsieur Stein . It is evening , and those who have permission from the police to give a party , have lighted their lamps and prepared their saloons for those receptions in which the well-bred of all nations , and particularly the ladies , take so incomprehensible a delight . At Vienna , every house must be closed at ten o'clock ; and those who wish to give balls or evening parties must obtain a direct permission to do so , emanating from the Emperor himself . So when they _ do _ go out , they make the most of it , and seem to enjoy the pleasure with an additional zest for the prohibition to which it is subject . Let us follow Monsieur Stein into that brilliantly-lighted room , through which he edges his way so unobtrusively , and where , amongst rustling toilettes , crisp and fresh from the dressmaker , and various uniforms on the fine persons of the Austrian aristocracy , his own modest attire passes unobserved . This is no _ bourgeois _ gathering , no assemblage of the middle rank , tainted by mercantile enterprise , or disgraced by talent , which presumes to rise superior to _ blood _ .