midnight
Take the easy-chair , and we can talk comfortably while the kettle is boiling . Are you new to the West , Mr. Blount , or is this only a return to your own ? The senator is always talking about you , you know ; but he is so inordinately proud of you that he forgets to tell us all the really interesting things that we want to know . '' The serving-man took his own time about coming back ; so long a time that Blount forgot that it was past midnight , that he was a guest in a strange house , and that he still had not learned the name of his entertainer . For all this forgetfulness the little lady with the dark-brown eyes was directly responsible . Almost before he realized it , Blount found himself chatting with her as if he had always known her , making rapid strides on the way to confidence and finding her alertly responsive in whatever field the talk happened to fall . Apparently she knew the world -- his world -- better than he knew it himself : she had summered on the North Shore and wintered in Washington .