midnight
He conferred with Truesdale on the possible reorganization of the business , and put before him the appositeness of his coming in at such a time ; but Truesdale would lift his brows and suck his lips and study the pattern of the carpet , and mumble something about packing his trunk and `` going somewhere . '' His days , in fact , were becoming long -- inordinately so ; it was to his evenings that he was coming to look exclusively for diversion . He made the most of these ; he drew them out as long as possible -- to counterbalance the days . He seldom came home before midnight , frequently not before two or three in the morning ; occasionally not at all . In company with three or four choice spirits , Arthur Paston and his like , he turned night into day , and was seen now and then at such conjunction of place and time as would well have justified an explanation to the sober-minded or even to the comparatively correct . Like his other associates on these occasions , he still retained the enviable faculty of being able to `` be nice to nice people '' ; but he acknowledged his taste and his sensibilities both to be badly lacerated , and he confessed now and then with a sigh that he had never amused himself so indifferently in his life . His sense of ennui was , in fact , driving him out upon society ; and the hopes of his sister , which had drooped somewhat after their first leaving-out , now began to lift themselves again .