midnight
`` It would be useless if I wished to do so -- my style betrays me -- I must plead guilty . It is not one of my legitimate duties -- if I held this position on the Times , or say the Daily Telegraph , our London contemporaries , it would not be required of me . But in this country everything is piled upon the sub-editor . Many a night , Miss Howe , I send down the last slips of a theatre notice at midnight and am here in this chair '' -- Mr. Sinclair brought his open palm down upon the arm of it -- `` by eleven the following day ! '' Mr. Sinclair 's chin was thrust passionately forward , moisture dimmed the velvety brightness of those eyes which , in more dramatic moments , he confessed to have inherited from a Nawab great-grandfather . `` But I do n't complain , '' he said , and drew in his chin . It seemed to bring his argument to a climax , over which he looked at Hilda in warm , frank expansion .