midnight
Never mind breakfast . '' The strain of invention was too much . He shut his eyes wearily , let his head roll to rest inertly , and quickly relaxed what he had regained of muscular control . Out of a crevice of his mind crept the vague but inevitable spectre of the night before -- but it proved in this case to be nothing but a seemingly interminable conversation with Richard Caramel , who had called on him at midnight ; they had drunk four bottles of beer and munched dry crusts of bread while Anthony listened to a reading of the first part of `` The Demon Lover . '' -- Came a voice now after many hours . Anthony disregarded it , as sleep closed over him , folded down upon him , crept up into the byways of his mind . Suddenly he was awake , saying : `` What ? ''