midnight
Christophe protested that Beethoven was not so very ugly : then they argued about beauty and ugliness : and she agreed that it was a matter of taste : what was beautiful for one person was not so for another : `` We 're not golden louis and ca n't please every one . '' He preferred her when she did not talk : he understood her better . During the death of Isolde she held out her hand to him : her hand was warm and moist : he held it in his until the end of the piece : they could feel life coursing through the veins of their clasped hands . They went out together : it was near midnight . They walked back to the Latin Quarter talking eagerly : she had taken his arm and he took her home : but when they reached the door , and she seemed to suggest that he should go up and see her room , he disregarded her smile and the friendliness in her eyes and left her . At first she was amazed , then furious : then she laughed aloud at the thought of his stupidity : and then , when she had reached her room and began to undress , she felt hurt and angry , and finally wept in silence . When next she met him at a concert she tried to be dignified and indifferent and crushing .