midnight
`` I must go and write to Edith . '' And off he went , humming : '' ` Twere errant folly to presume Love 's flame could burn and not consume . '' Measure for Measure ; iv -- i . As many of the Boston clocks as ever permitted themselves so far to break through their constitutional reserve as to speak above a whisper , had announced in varying tones that it was midnight , yet the group of men seated in easy attitudes before the fire in one of the sitting-rooms of the St. Filipe Club showed no signs of breaking up . Indeed , the room was so pleasant and warm , with its artistically combined colors , its good pictures and glowing grates , and the storm outside raged so savagely , beating its wind and sleet against the windows , that a reluctance to issue from the clubhouse door was only natural , and there would be little room for surprise should the men conclude to remain where they were until daylight . The conversation , carried on amid clouds of fragrant tobacco smoke and with potations , not excessive but comfortably frequent , was quiet and unflagging , possessing , for the most part , that mellow quality which is seldom attained before the small hours and the third cigar . `` Yes , virtue has to be its own reward , '' Tom Bently was saying lightly , `` for , do n't you see , the people who practice it are too narrow-minded to appreciate any thing else . ''