midnight
I should not have had this yearning for her now , this hatred , this anxiety ; and I should have lived out my life quietly , working and not worrying about anything . '' A carriage with two lamps drove into the yard , then a big sledge with three horses . My wife was evidently having a party . Till midnight everything was quiet downstairs and I heard nothing , but at midnight there was a sound of moving chairs and a clatter of crockery . So there was supper . Then the chairs moved again , and through the floor I heard a noise ; they seemed to be shouting hurrah . Marya Gerasimovna was already asleep and I was quite alone in the whole upper storey ; the portraits of my forefathers , cruel , insignificant people , looked at me from the walls of the drawing-room , and the reflection of my lamp in the window winked unpleasantly .