five o'clock in the afternoon
When their dinner was over , I and my fellow servants sat down to ours in the kitchen , where I understood that Sir Timothy Thicket was a wealthy knight in the neighbourhood , between whom and Narcissa a match had been projected by her brother , who promised at the same time to espouse Sir Timothy 's sister ; by which means , as their fortunes were pretty equal , the young ladies would be provided for , and their brothers be never the poorer ; but that the ladies did not concur in the scheme , each of them entertaining a hearty contempt for the person allotted to her for a husband by this agreement . This information begat in me a mortal aversion to Sir Timothy , whom I looked upon as my rival , and cursed in my heart for his presumption . Next morning , by daybreak , being awakened by the noise of the hunters and hounds , I rose to view the cavalcade , and had a sight of my competitor , whose accomplishments -LRB- the estate excluded -RRB- did not seem brilliant enough to give me much uneasiness with respect to Narcissa , who , I flattered myself , was not to be won by such qualifications as he was master of , either as to person or mind . My mistress , notwithstanding her precaution , was so much disturbed by her nephew 's company , that she did not rise till five o'clock in the afternoon ; so that I had an opportunity of examining her study at leisure , to which examination I was strongly prompted by my curiosity . Here I found a thousand scraps of her own poetry , consisting of three , four , ten , twelve , and twenty lines , on an infinity of subjects , which , as whim inspired , she had begun , without constancy or capacity to bring to any degree of composition : but , what was very extraordinary in a female poet , there was not the least mention made of love in any of her performances . I counted fragments of five tragedies , the titles of which were `` The Stern Philosopher , '' `` The Double , '' `` The Sacrilegious Traitor , '' `` The Fall of Lucifer , '' and `` The Last Day . '' From whence I gathered , that her disposition was gloomy , and her imagination delighted with objects of horror .