six o’clock
For this purpose he was not at all bound to be a moral gentleman , nor , as he conceived , to be a _ gentleman _ at all -- not , at least , in the commencement of his career : he might become accomplished at any convenient period of his life , and become moral at the end of it , but he might begin by being an accomplished -- blackguard . Blackguard is a harsh word ; but what other will express the idea ? Unluckily , the easiest points to be imitated in any character are not always the best ; and where any latitude is given to conscience , or any precedents are allowed to the grosser passions for their justification , those are the points which are afterwards remembered and applied in practice , when the moral salvo sentences are forgotten , or are at best but of feeble countervailing effect . At six o'clock on Monday evening the cap -- the prize cap , flaming with red ribands from the top of the pole , streamed to the summer air , and delighted the upturned eyes of assembled crowds upon the green below . The dance began , and our popular hero , the delight of all the nymphs , and the envy of all the swains , danced away with one of the prettiest , `` smartest , '' `` most likely-looking '' `` lasses , '' that ever appeared at any former patron . She was a degree more refined in manner , and polished in appearance , than the fair of the Black Islands , for she came from the continent of Ireland -- she had the advantage of having been sometimes at the big house at Castle Hermitage -- she was the gardener 's daughter -- Peggy Sheridan -- distinguished among her fellows by a nosegay , such as no other could have procured -- distinguished more by her figure and her face than by her nosegay , and more by her air and motions , than even by her figure or her face : she stepped well , and stepped out -- she danced an Irish jig to admiration , and she was not averse from admiration ; village prudes , perhaps , might call her a village coquette ; but let not this suggest a thought derogatory to the reputation of the lively Peggy . She was a well-behaved , well-meaning , innocent , industrious girl -- a good daughter , a good sister , and more than one in the neighbourhood thought she would make a good wife .