midnight
As Lord James had once observed , with regard to his visit at Ruthby Castle , Blake 's bigness of mind seemed to be instinctively sensed by nearly all those with whom he came in contact on favorable terms . But , from the first , he avoided Genevieve with a persistence so marked as almost to disarm Mrs. Gantry . Most of his few dances were with Dolores , who discovered that , notwithstanding his evident weariness , he was astonishingly light on his feet and by no means a poor waltzer . But after midnight she found it increasingly difficult to lure him out on the floor whenever she was seized with the whim to favor him by scratching the name -- and feelings -- of some other partner . More than once Lord James urged him to go home and turn in . Blake 's reply was that he knew he ought not to have come to the ball , but since he had come , he proposed to stick it out , -- he would not be a quitter . So he stayed on , hour after hour , weary-eyed and taciturn , but by no means ill-humored .