twelve
o'clock at night
` I think every one is quite happy , ' said Jane , and added , with characteristic frankness , ` I know I am ! ' Peter gave her a quick glance , turning his eyes full upon her for a moment as though to read something in the face beside him ; then he began with absorbed attention to twist the silk string of his ball programme round and round his finger . The room where they sat was singularly unlike those rose-shaded bowers which are considered suitable to the needs of dancers who pause and rest in them . Its austere furnishing had something almost solemn and mysterious about it ; and the stone walls hung with tapestry , on which quaint figures moved restlessly with the draught from an open window , would have given an eerie feeling to a man , for instance , sitting alone there at twelve o'clock at night . But in the gloom and austerity of the still and distant chamber sat Jane in white satin with pearls about her neck , and the room was illumined by her . ` So you are enjoying yourself , ' said Peter at last -- Peter who never made fatuous conversational remarks of this sort . The words , for no reason in themselves , fell oddly , and were followed by a silence which was disturbing and made for sudden self-consciousness wholly to be condemned , and to be banished , if possible , directly .