understood, invitations for the evening. The time of the arrival of
these visitors will vary according to their engagements, or sometimes
will be varied in obedience to the caprices of fashion. Guests invited
for the evening are, however, generally considered at liberty to arrive
whenever it will best suit themselves,--usually between nine and twelve,
unless earlier hours are specifically named. By this arrangement, many
fashionable people and others, who have numerous engagements to fulfil,
often contrive to make their appearance at two or three parties in the
course of one evening.