midnight
But when I received , as for the regular servants ' ball , an invitation written in a very beautiful hand upon pink paper : `` M. Noel rekwests M -- to be present at his evenin-party on the 25th instent . Super will be provided '' I saw clearly , not withstanding the defective spelling , that it was a question of something serious and authorized . I dressed myself therefore in my newest frock-coat , my finest linen , and arrived at the Place Vendome at the address indicated by the invitation . For the giving of his party , M. Noel had taken advantage of a first-night at the opera , to which all fashionable society was thronging , thus giving the servants a free rein , and putting the entire place at our disposal until midnight . Notwithstanding this , the host had preferred to receive us upstairs in his own bed-chamber , and this I approved highly , being in that matter of the opinion of the old fellow in the rhyme : Fie on the pleasure That fear may corrupt ! But my word , the luxury on the Place Vendome ! A felt carpet on the floor , the bed hidden away in an alcove , Algerian curtains with red stripes , an ornamental clock in green marble on the chimneypiece , the whole lighted by lamps of which the flames can be regulated at will .