midnight
When such an event occurred , Tom would feel his bosom swell with the imagined dignity of supporting a family by literary labor , and , forgetful of the sparseness of his mother 's doles , who delighted to make the young couple feel the bitterness of dependence , would immediately , on the strength of it , invite his friends to supper -- not at the lodging where Letty sat lonely , but at some tavern frequented by people of the craft . It was at such times , and in the company of men certainly not better than himself , that Tom 's hopes were brightest , and his confidence greatest : therefore such seasons were those of his highest bliss . Especially , when his sensitive but poor imagination was stimulated from the nerve-side of the brain , was Tom in his glory ; and it was not the `` few glasses of champagne , '' of which he talked so airily , that had all the honor of crowning him king of fate and poet of the world . Long after midnight , upon such and many other occasions , would he and his companions sit laughing and jesting and drinking , some saying witty things , and all of them foolish things and worse ; inventing stories apropos of the foibles of friends , and relating anecdotes which grew more and more irreverent to God and women as the night advanced , and the wine gained power , and the shame-faced angels of their true selves , made in the image of God , withdrew into the dark ; until at last , between night and morning , Tom would reel gracefully home , using all the power of his will -- the best use to which it ever was put -- to subdue the drunkenness of which , even in its embrace , he had the lingering honor to be ashamed , that he might face his wife with the appearance of the gentleman he was anxious she should continue to consider him . It was an unhappy thing for Tom that his mother , having persuaded her dying husband , `` for Tom 's sake , '' to leave the money in her power , should not now have carried her tyranny further , and refused him money altogether . He would then have been compelled to work harder , and to use what he made in procuring the necessaries of life . There might have been some hope for him then .