nine o'clock
In the morning they went home with others of the party by train . They could not wait for Charlie and his automobile , because Monday was the opening night of the Opera , and no one could miss that . Here Society would appear in its most gorgeous raiment , and , there would be a show of jewellery such as could be seen nowhere else in the world . General Prentice and his wife had opened their town-house , and had invited them to dinner and to share their box ; and so at about half-past nine o'clock Montague found himself seated in a great balcony of the shape of a horseshoe , with several hundred of the richest people in the city . There was another tier of boxes above , and three galleries above that , and a thousand or more people seated and standing below him . Upon the big stage there was an elaborate and showy play , the words of which were sung to the accompaniment of an orchestra . Now Montague had never heard an opera , and he was fond of music .