eleven o'clock before
`` We 'll do whatever you like . Of course we will . '' I wore my soft satin without any ornaments , and my husband merely put scarlet facings on the lapels of his evening coat , but Alma was clad in a gorgeous dress of old gold , with Oriental skirts which showed her limbs in front but had a long train behind , and made her look like a great vampire bat . It was eleven o'clock before we reached the theatre , but already the auditorium was full , and so well had the artists done their work of decoration , making the air alive with floating specks of many-coloured lights , like the fire-flies at Nemi , that the scene was one of enchantment . It was difficult to believe that on the other side of the walls was the street , with the clanging electric bells and people hurrying by with their collars up , for the night was cold , and it had begun to rain as we came in , and one poor woman , with a child under her shawl , was standing by the entrance trying to sell evening papers . I sat alone in a box on the ground tier while Alma and my husband and their friends were below on the level of the _ poltroni _ -LRB- the stalls -RRB- that had been arranged for the dancing , which began immediately after we arrived and went on without a break until long after midnight . Then there was supper on the stage , and those who did not eat drank a good deal until nearly everybody seemed to be under the influence of alcohol .