midnight
On a long deck chair beside one of the tables lay Lord Westerham with his left arm bound across his breast and looking little better than the ghost of the man he had been a month ago . Beside him stood Lady Margaret and Norah Castellan , and with them were the two men who had done so much to change defeat into victory ; the captain and lieutenant of the ever-famous _ Ithuriel _ . Never before had there been such a gathering of all sorts and conditions of men on one spot of earth ; but as the hours went on and dwindled into minutes , all differences of rank and position became things of the past . In the presence of that awful Shape which was now flaming across the heavens , all men and women were equal , since by midnight all might be reduced at the same instant to the same dust and ashes . The ghastly orange-green glare shone down alike on the upturned face of monarch and statesman , soldier and peasant , millionaire and pauper , the good and the bad , the noble and the base , and tinged every face with its own ghastly hue . Five minutes to twelve ! There was a shaking of hands , but no words were spoken .