about
ten o’clock
`` Victurnien has ceased to know me for some time , '' replied Fabien , `` but we used to be very intimate in our youth . '' The dinner was one of those which are given nowhere but in Paris by these great female spendthrifts , for the choiceness of their preparations often surprise the most fastidious of guests . It was at just such a supper , at the house of a courtesan as handsome and rich as Madame Schontz , that Paganini declared he had never eaten such fare at the table of any sovereign , nor drunk such wines with any prince , nor heard such witty conversation , nor seen the glitter of such coquettish luxury . Maxime and Madame Schontz were the first to re-enter the salon , about ten o'clock , leaving the other guests , who had ceased to tell anecdotes and were now boasting of their various good qualities , with their viscous lips glued to the glasses which they could not drain . `` Well , my dear , '' said Maxime , `` you are not mistaken ; yes , I have come for your _ beaux yeux _ and for help in a great affair . You must leave Arthur ; but I pledge myself to make him give you two hundred thousand francs . '' `` Why should I leave the poor fellow ? ''