midnight
`` I appreciate your delicacy , '' said his friend ; `` you commenced your system even at Shadynook . Did you win any thing from Fauquier ? '' `` How did you know we played ? '' `` Why , returning past midnight , I saw lights . '' `` Very well -- that proved nothing . We did play , however , friend Jacques , and I lost ; which gave his Excellency an opportunity to perform a very graceful act . But enough .