ten o'clock at night
That 's what he said , is it ? A sucked orange , '' Hilary repeated . `` That 's what he said , '' declared Mr. Jane , and remembered afterwards how Hilary had been struck by the simile . At ten o'clock at night , at the very height of the tumult , Senator Whitredge had received an interrogatory telegram from Fairview , and had called a private conference -LRB- in which Hilary was not included -RRB- in a back room on the second floor -LRB- where the conflicting bands of Mr. Crewe and Mr. Hunt could not be heard -RRB- , which Mr. Manning and Mr. Jane and State Senator Billings and Mr. Ridout attended . Query : the Honourable Hilary had quarrelled with Mr. Flint , that was an open secret ; did not Mr. Vane think himself justified , from his own point of view , in taking a singular revenge in not over-exerting himself to pull the Honourable Adam out , thereby leaving the field open for his son , Austen Vane , with whom he was apparently reconciled ? Not that Mr. Flint had hinted of such a thing ! He had , in the telegram , merely urged the senator himself to see Mr. Hunt , and to make one more attempt to restrain the loyalty to that candidate of Messrs. Bascom and Botcher .