eleven o'clock
`` Do n't flatter yourself on any such result . We shall stand alone , you may depend upon it . '' The evening of the party came and a large company assembled at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Eldridge . At eleven o'clock they passed to the supper-room . On this time the thoughts of the host and hostess had passed , ever and anon , during the whole evening , and not without many misgivings as to the effect their entertainment would produce on the minds of the company . Mr. Eldridge was particularly nervous on the subject . There were several gentlemen present whom he knew to be lovers of good wine ; gentlemen at whose houses he had often been entertained , and never without the exhilarating glass .