midnight
There were an Italian marquis and his wife supping together like lovers , so strong is the force of habit that makes this public life necessary even when the domestic life is established . There is a man who shot himself rather seriously on the doorsteps of the beauty who rejected him , and in a year married the handsome and more wealthy woman who sits opposite him in that convivial party . There is a Russian princess , a fair woman with cool observant eyes , making herself agreeable to a mixed company in three languages . In this brilliant light is it not wonderful how dazzlingly beautiful the women are -- brunettes in yellow and diamonds , blondes in elaborately simple toilets , with only a bunch of roses for ornament , in the flush of the midnight hour , in a radiant glow that even the excitement and the lifted glass can not heighten ? That pretty girl yonder -- is she wife or widow ? -- slight and fresh and fair , they say has an ambition to extend her notoriety by going upon the stage ; the young lady with her , who does not seem to fear a public place , may be helping her on the road . The two young gentlemen , their attendants , have the air of taking life more seriously than the girls , but regard with respectful interest the mounting vivacity of their companions , which rises and sparkles like the bubbles in the slender glasses which they raise to their lips with the dainty grace of practice .