midnight
Not for worlds would her ladyship have risked a scandal . She prized her position , and loved her diamonds far better than she was ever likely to love any human being under the sun . Still , it was the fashion to have one special favourite ; and it was a great thing to have conquered the handsome and popular Adrien Leroy . It was little wonder , therefore , that , when midnight had struck and still Leroy was absent from her side , Eveline Merivale beneath the calm conventional smile , was secretly anxious and inclined to be angry . She was looking her best to-night ; and although she had already been surfeited with compliments from duke to subaltern , she yet longed to hear one other voice praise her appearance . There was , indeed , every reason why Lady Merivale should be lauded as the greatest beauty of her time , for she carried all before her by the sheer force of her personality . Dazzlingly fair , with hair of a bronze Titian hue , which clustered in great waves about her forehead ; her eyes of a deep , lustrous blue , shading almost to violet .