about
eight o'clock
Nor were the pretensions put forward by the impresario on this score altogether vain . He was no fool ; -- a shrewd as well as a dapper little man , active and clever at his business , and well liked both by the artists and by the public , for which he catered , despite of being one of the vainest of mortals . Vanity makes some men very odious to their fellows ; -- in others it is perfectly inoffensive ; and though damaging to a claim to respect , is perfectly compatible with a considerable amount of liking for the victim of it . A very dapper little man was Signor Ercole , as he stepped forth , about eight o'clock , entirely refitted , to wait upon the Marchese at the Palazzo Castelmare . He was dressed in complete black , somewhat threadbare , but scrupulously brushed . He had a large frill at the bosom of his shirt , and more frills around the wristbands of it ; one or two rings of immense size and weight on his small fingers ; boots with heels two inches high , and a rather long frock-coat buttoned closely round his little body . Signor Ercole had never been known to wear a swallow-tailed coat on any occasion .