about two in the morning
The phenomenon of speech , which , when duly studied and well handled , is the power of the actor and the story-teller , had never so completely bewitched me . Nor was I alone under the influence of its spell ; we all spent a delightful evening . The conversation had drifted into anecdote , and brought out in its rushing course some curious confessions , several portraits , and a thousand follies , which make this enchanting improvisation impossible to record ; still , by setting these things down in all their natural freshness and abruptness , their elusive divarications , you may perhaps feel the charm of a real French evening , taken at the moment when the most engaging familiarity makes each one forget his own interests , his personal conceit , or , if you like , his pretensions . At about two in the morning , as supper ended , no one was left sitting round the table but intimate friends , proved by intercourse of fifteen years , and some persons of great taste and good breeding , who knew the world . By tacit agreement , perfectly carried out , at supper every one renounced his pretensions to importance . Perfect equality set the tone . But indeed there was no one present who was not very proud of being himself .