about
midnight
Every one can imagine the fine page now added to the Golden Book of jurisprudential festivals . Godeschal disappeared after signing the report , leaving the eleven guests , stimulated by the old captain of the Imperial Guard , to the wines , toasts , and liqueurs of a dessert composed of choice and early fruits , in pyramids that rivalled the obelisk of Thebes . By half-past ten the little sub-clerk was in such a state that Georges packed him into a coach , paid his fare , and gave the address of his mother to the driver . The remaining ten , all as drunk as Pitt and Dundas , talked of going on foot along the boulevards , considering the fine evening , to the house of the Marquise de las Florentinas y Cabirolos , where , about midnight , they might expect to find the most brilliant society of Paris . They felt the need of breathing the pure air into their lungs ; but , with the exception of Georges , Giroudeau , du Bruel , and Finot , all four accustomed to Parisian orgies , not one of the party could walk . Consequently , Georges sent to a livery-stable for three open carriages , in which he drove his company for an hour round the exterior boulevards from Monmartre to the Barriere du Trone . They returned by Bercy , the quays , and the boulevards to the rue de Vendome .