midnight
False , she believed her -- well , she should see . In a way , she clung to Beauclerk as a means of escaping Baltimore -- throwing out a thousand wiles to charm him to her side , and succeeding . Three times she had given a smiling `` No '' to Lord Baltimore 's demand for a dance , and , regardless of opinion , had flung herself into a wild and open flirtation with Beauclerk . But it is growing toward midnight , and her strength is failing her . These people , will they never go , will she never be able to seek her own room , and solitude , and despair without calling down comment on her head , and giving Isabel -- that cold woman -- the chance of sneering at her weakness ? A sudden sense of the uselessness of it all has taken possession of her ; her heart sinks . It is at this moment that Baltimore once more comes up to her .