about nine o’clock in the evening
`` It was in the thick of such a chaos that M. de Trailles tried to insinuate himself into my good graces . My head was fairly clear , I was upon my guard . As for him , though he pretended to be decently drunk , he was perfectly cool , and knew very well what he was about . How it was done I do not know , but the upshot of it was that when we left Grignon 's rooms about nine o'clock in the evening , M. de Trailles had thoroughly bewitched me . I had given him my promise that I would introduce him the next day to our Papa Gobseck . The words ` honor , ' ` virtue , ' ` countess , ' ` honest woman , ' and ` ill-luck ' were mingled in his discourse with magical potency , thanks to that golden tongue of his . `` When I awoke next morning , and tried to recollect what I had done the day before , it was with great difficulty that I could make a connected tale from my impressions .