midnight
` Describe the occasion to which you refer . ' ` My Lord , ' said Mr. Winkle , trembling with anxiety , ` I -- I 'd rather not . ' ` Perhaps so , ' said the little judge ; ` but you must . ' Amid the profound silence of the whole court , Mr. Winkle faltered out , that the trifling circumstance of suspicion was Mr. Pickwick 's being found in a lady 's sleeping-apartment at midnight ; which had terminated , he believed , in the breaking off of the projected marriage of the lady in question , and had led , he knew , to the whole party being forcibly carried before George Nupkins , Esq. , magistrate and justice of the peace , for the borough of Ipswich ! ` You may leave the box , Sir , ' said Serjeant Snubbin . Mr. Winkle did leave the box , and rushed with delirious haste to the George and Vulture , where he was discovered some hours after , by the waiter , groaning in a hollow and dismal manner , with his head buried beneath the sofa cushions . Tracy Tupman , and Augustus Snodgrass , were severally called into the box ; both corroborated the testimony of their unhappy friend ; and each was driven to the verge of desperation by excessive badgering .