two o'clock
`` Go now , '' he said , and she obeyed him without further question . Peter was shaving for the evening . His sister was giving a dinner party for two of her husband 's fellow bankers and their wives . After that they were going to see the latest Belasco production , and from there to some one of the new dancing `` clubs , '' -- the smart cabarets that were forced to organize in the guise of private enterprises to evade the two o'clock closing law . Peter enjoyed dancing , but he did not as a usual thing enjoy bankers ' wives . He was deliberating on the possibility of excusing himself gracefully after the theater , on the plea of having some work to do , and finally decided that his sister 's feelings would be hurt if she realized he was trying to escape the climax of the hospitality she had provided so carefully . He gazed at himself intently over the drifts of lather and twisted his shaving mirror to the most propitious angle from time to time .