a quarter to twelve
c'est atroce ! _ '' and had bounded up the hall . He sat on , hating this ugly place of his delay , while the Frenchman and the boy kept up an insincere , voluptuous whisper about God and the comfort of the Mass. ... At last he rose to his feet . It was a quarter to twelve , and time for him to go . He went up the hall , treading on lobster claws and someone 's wig , and looking about him for a certain person . He could not see him among the group of revellers that stood in the space before the large folding-doors , and for a minute a hand closed over his heart as he feared that for once the person whom he sought had gone home before morning . But presently he saw a long chair by the wall , and on its cushions a blotched face and a gross , full body .