midnight
They played till dinner-time without intermission ; and though the Duke made some desperate efforts , and some successful ones , his losses were , nevertheless , trebled . Yet he ate an excellent dinner and was not at all depressed ; because the more he lost , the more his courage and his resources seemed to expand . At first he had limited himself to ten thousand ; after breakfast it was to have been twenty thousand ; then thirty thousand was the ultimatum ; and now he dismissed all thoughts of limits from his mind , and was determined to risk or gain everything . At midnight , he had lost forty-eight thousand pounds . Affairs now began to be serious . His supper was not so hearty . While the rest were eating , he walked about the room , and began to limit his ambition to recovery , and not to gain .