midnight
I seldom did anything in the mornings except think and prepare ; towards evening I felt myself getting ready , and at last I sat down with the first lines buzzing in my head . And I used to read a great deal at the same time . Whilst I was writing `` On Neutral Ground '' I went solidly through the `` Divina Commedia , '' a canto each day . Very often I wrote till after midnight , but occasionally I got my quantum finished much earlier , and then I used to treat myself to a ramble about the streets . I can recall exactly the places where some of my best ideas came to me . You remember the scene in Prendergast 's lodgings ? That flashed on me late one night as I was turning out of Leicester Square into the slum that leads to Clare Market ; ah , how well I remember !