one o'clock
Besides , he went little into society of this kind , and was not over-familiar with the faces he saw . He need not have been disturbed , however , for they had not been many minutes in the rooms before a score of men had applied for the `` pleasure of a turn . '' But still she held Mr. Bellingham 's arm , obdurately refusing to dance . As Barker came up a moment later , willing , perhaps , to show his triumph to the rejected suitors , Margaret thanked Mr. Bellingham , and offered to take him home if he would stay until one o'clock ; then she glided away , not to dance but to sit in a quieter room , near the door of which couples would hover for a quarter of an hour at a time waiting to seize the next pair of vacant seats . Mr. Bellingham moved away , amused by the music and the crowd and the fair young faces , until he found a seat in a corner , shaded from the flare of light by an open door close by , and there , in five minutes , he was fast asleep in the midst of the gaiety and noise and heat -- unnoticed , a gray old man amid so much youth . But Barker knew the house better than the most of the guests , and passing through the little room for which every one seemed fighting , he drew aside a heavy curtain and showed a small boudoir beyond , lighted with a solitary branch of candles , and occupied by a solitary couple . Barker had hoped to find this sanctum empty , and as he pushed two chairs together he eyed the other pair savagely .