nine o'clock
For a long time her lover stood there , motionless , downcast , clenched fists in his pockets , face to face with the past . And that which lay behind him was that which lies behind what is commonly known to the world as the average man . The Masked Dance was to begin at ten that evening ; for that reason dinner had been served early at scores of small tables on the terrace , a hilarious and topsy-turvy , but somewhat rapid affair , because everybody required time for dressing , and already throughout the house maids and valets were scurrying around , unpacking masks and wigs and dainty costumes for the adorning of the guests at Roya-Neh . Toward nine o'clock the bustle and confusion became distracting ; corridors were haunted by graceful flitting figures in various stages of deshabille , in quest of paraphernalia feminine and maids to adjust the same . A continual chatter filled the halls , punctuated by smothered laughter and subdued but insistent appeals for aid in the devious complications of intimate attire . On the men 's side of the house there was less hubbub and some quiet swearing ; much splashing in tubs , much cigarette smoke . Men entered each other 's rooms , half-clad in satin breeches , silk stockings , and ruffled shirts , asking a helping hand in tying queue ribbons or adjusting stocks , and lingered to smoke and jest and gossip , and jeer at one another 's finery , or to listen to the town news from those week-enders recently arrived from the city .