six o'clock
Now if you ask about the expression on her face , I must tell you it was rather languid and '' _ pensieroso _ . '' Pensieroso is an Italian word really meaning thoughtful -- but this little girl was not _ thinking _ , for then the expression of her face would have been much stronger and firmer and less languid ; but the word has got to be used for a sort of awake-dreamy state when one lets thoughts float lazily along without having any energy to dwell upon them , and see whether they are good or bad . The thought that was passing through this little girl 's head at the time I mention and which made her look so languid and pensieroso , was `` I wish it was 6 o'clock . '' Now here you are ready to laugh , I know , for there was nothing to look so languid about , in `` I wish it was six o'clock ! '' but the fact was this : at half-past six the little girl 's Mamma was expecting a large party to dinner and the little girl was to dress at six and be ready to go down and see the company : -- I might add _ and to be seen by them _ ; for the little girl was , as you will have guessed , the beautiful Aurora herself , and there had been plenty of foolish people , though her good Mamma was not one of them , to tell her how pretty she was and how much people admired her . It is a very pleasant thing to be admired , both for children and grown up people . `` The love of approbation , '' as it is called , i.e. the wish to be approved of and admired is a feeling which is very strong in most people ; not in quite all , perhaps , but in _ most _ people certainly .