midday
The ball was assumed to be an entertainment so brilliant , so unprecedented ; marvels were told about it ; there were rumours of princes from a distance with lorgnettes ; of ten stewards , all young dandies , with rosettes on their left shoulder ; of some Petersburg people who were setting the thing going ; there was a rumour that Karmazinov had consented to increase the subscriptions to the fund by reading his _ Merci _ in the costume of the governesses of the district ; that there would be a literary quadrille all in costume , and every costume would symbolise some special line of thought ; and finally that `` honest Russian thought '' would dance in costume -- which would certainly be a complete novelty in itself . Who could resist subscribing ? Every one subscribed . The programme of the fête was divided into two parts : the literary matinée from midday till four o'clock , and afterwards a ball from ten o'clock onwards through the night . But in this very programme there lay concealed germs of disorder . In the first place , from the very beginning a rumour had gained ground among the public concerning a luncheon immediately after the literary matinée , or even while it was going on , during an interval arranged expressly for it -- a free luncheon , of course , which would form part of the programme and be accompanied by champagne . The immense price of the tickets -LRB- three roubles -RRB- tended to confirm this rumour .