midnight
They took the `` cure . '' Rode horseback , motored , played roulette at the casino for big stakes , and scorned the American plan of service for the smarter European idea , with a special _ à la carte _ menu for each meal . Extraordinary-looking mixed drinks , strictly against the mandates of the `` cure , '' appeared at their table . Strange midnight goings-on were reported by the more conservative hotel guests , and the privacy of their circle was allowed full integrity by the little veranda groups of gouty ladies or middle-aged husbands with liver spots on their faces . The bath attendants reveled in the largest tips of the season . When Hester walked down the large dining room evenings , she was a signal for the craning of necks for the newest shock of her newest extreme toilette . The kinds of toilettes that shocked the women into envy and mental notes of how the underarm was cut , and the men into covert delight .