About
four o'clock in the afternoon
We returned to the kitchen , where I was regaled by the maids , who seemed to vie with each other in expressing their regard for me ; and from them I understood , that my business consisted in cleaning knives and forks , laying the cloth , waiting at table , carrying messages , and attending my lady when she went abroad . There was a very good suit of livery in the house , which had belonged to my predecessor deceased , and it fitted me exactly ; so that there was no occasion for employing a tailor on my account . I had not been long equipped in this manner , when my lady 's bell rung ; upon which , I ran up stairs , and found her stalking about the room in her shift and under petticoat only ; I would immediately have retired as became me , but she bade me come in , and air a clean shift for her ; which operation I having performed with some backwardness , she put it on before me without any ceremony , and I verily believe was ignorant of my sex all that time , as being quite absorbed in contemplation . About four o'clock in the afternoon I was ordered to lay the cloth , and place two covers , which I understood were for my mistress and her niece , whom I had not as yet seen . Though I was not very dexterous at this work , I performed it pretty well for a beginner , and , when dinner was upon the table , saw my mistress approach , accompanied by the young lady , whose name for the present shall be Narcissa . So much sweetness appeared in the countenance and carriage of this amiable apparition , that my heart was captivated at first sight , and while dinner lasted , I gazed upon her without intermission . Her age seemed to be seventeen , her stature tall , her shape unexceptionable , her hair , that fell down upon her ivory neck in ringlets , black as jet ; her arched eyebrows of the same colour ; her eyes piercing , yet tender ; her lips of the consistence and hue of cherries ; her complexion clear , delicate and healthy ; her aspect noble , ingenuous , and humane ; and the whole person so ravishingly delightful , that it was impossible for any creature endued with sensibility , to see without admiring , and admire without loving her to excess .