four o'clock in the morning
He was beginning to suspect himself . He was not sure , and if he had been he would not have acted on that certainty ; for he had never possessed the courage of his opinions . But it had come to this , that Jewdwine , the pure , the incorruptible , was actually uncertain whether he had or had not taken a bribe . As he lay awake in bed at four o'clock in the morning his conscience would suggest to him that he had done this thing ; but at noon , in the office of _ Metropolis _ , his robust common sense , then like the sun , in the ascendant , boldly protested that he had done nothing of the sort . He had merely made certain not very unusual concessions to the interests of his journal . In doing so he had of course set aside his artistic conscience , an artistic conscience being a private luxury incompatible with the workings of a large corporate concern . He was bound to disregard it in loyalty to his employers and his public .