midnight
This pretty gentleman hailed my advent with a delight that amazed me , and suggested that we should throw a main together to kill time . The dice were found , and so clumsily did he use them that in half an hour , playing for beggarly crowns , he had lost twenty pistoles . Next he lost his temper , and with an oath pitched the cubes into the fire , swearing that they were toys for children and that I must grant him his révanche with cards . The cards were furnished us , and with a fortune that varied little we played lansquenet until long past midnight . The fire died out in the grate , and the air grew chill , until at last , with a violent sneeze , La Vrillière protested that he would play no more . Cursing himself for the unluckiest being alive , the fool bade me good-night , and left me seventy pistoles richer than when I had met him . Despite the strenuous efforts which Andrea compelled us to put forth , we did not again come up with Mesdemoiselles de Canaples , who in truth must have travelled with greater speed than ladies are wont to .