midnight
Here is a list of the obligations his passion imposed upon him . Every day , or nearly every day , he was obliged to be on horseback in the Bois , between two and three o'clock , in the careful dress of a gentleman of leisure . He had to learn at what house or theatre he could meet Madame de Vandenesse in the evening . He was not able to leave the party or the play until long after midnight , having obtained nothing better than a few tender sentences , long awaited , said in a doorway , or hastily as he put her into her carriage . It frequently happened that Marie , who by this time had launched him into the great world , procured for him invitations to dinner in certain houses where she went herself . All this seemed the simplest life in the world to her . Raoul moved by pride and led on by his passion never told her of his labors .