midnight
The scent of the flowers vied with the perfumes worn by the women and could not overcome them . The crystal glasses sparkled in the light of the wax candles , the jewels , and the bright eyes round the table . The servants poured out the noble Rhine wine , the celebrated Burgundy , the elegant Bordeaux , and the mischievous Champagne , whose colored embodiment was reflected on the white hands of the guests , and carried their imaginations away in its flight from gray reality to the immortal land of rosy dreams . The meal lasted a long time , then a few of the guests rose ; the older ones , who had principally chatted , played , and smoked before midnight , now withdrew , if they had no daughters to chaperon ; the young people , however , went back to the dancing-room , the musicians fiddled anew as if they were possessed , and an hour 's cotillion was begun , the pretty quick-moving figures being led by a lieutenant of the Guards , who seemed as proud of the honor as if he were commanding on a battlefield . Loulou , who had gone back to the dance , had begged Wilhelm in vain to take part at least in the cotillion , where he need not dance much . She had assured him that he would be more decorated than any other man in the room , and would have more orders , ribbons , and wreaths given him than all the lieutenants put together ; but even the prospect of such a triumph could not make him ambitious , and for the first time this evening the beautiful excited girl left him looking out of humor , and glanced at him in a way which was not merely sorrowful but reproachful . Paul , on the other hand , was happy .