midnight
Remember , too , that the cleverest or the most sanguine of them all have only ventured to promise an abatement of his agonies : of their cessation they say no word ; nor can they even prophesy that the end will come quickly . He is not allowed to read much , even if his taste lay that way , which it does not ; for a literary _ Chasseur d'Afrique _ is such a whim as Nature never yet indulged herself in . So perhaps he caught at the only resource that could have saved him from worse things ; under which , I presume , is to be included the temptation to take laudanum in proportions by no means prescribed or sanctioned by the Faculty . Every day about noon his servant helped him into the card-room at the club , and settled him at his own table , where , with the two hours respite of dinner , he sat till midnight , ready to give battle to all comers at all weapons , just as the Knights of Lyonnesse used to keep a bridge or a pass while achieving their vows . It is needless to say that the changes of good or bad luck affected him not at all . Few men of his stamp indulge in the weakness of railing at Fortune , which is the privilege and consolation of the _ roturier _ . Neither was he ever heard to reproach a partner , or become bitter against an adversary .