midnight
While it is my desire to impress upon you , and my niece Sophia , that the conduct of these young ladies has been _ quite _ beyond reproach , I will not conceal from you that the attentions of a certain person , of the name of _ Smith _ , known here , and a favorite in the circles of frivolity and fashion as _ Captain Jack _ , have already made Madeleine _ conspicuous _ , and although the dear girl conducts herself with the utmost propriety , there is an air of _ Romance _ and _ mystery _ about the Young Man , not to speak of his unmistakable good looks , which have determined me to remove her from his vicinity before her Affections be _ irreparably _ engaged . As for Molly , who is a thorough O'Donoghue and the image of her grandmother , that celebrated Murthering Moll -LRB- herself the toast of Bath in our young days -RRB- , whose elopement with the Marquis de Kermelégan , after he had killed an English rival in a duel , was once a nine-days ' wonder in this very town , and of whom you must have heard , Mrs. Hambledon restored her to my care only three days ago , and she has already twenty Beaux to her String , though favouring _ nobody _ , I am bound to say , but her own amusement . Yesterday she departed under Mrs. Hambledon 's chaperonage , in the Company of a dozen of the highest in rank here , on an expedition to Clifton ; the while my demure Madeleine spends the day at the house of her dear friend Lady Maria Harewood , whither , I only learnt upon her return at ten o'clock under his escort , _ Captain Jack _ -- in my days that sort of _ captain _ would have been strongly suspected , of having a shade too much of the _ Heath _ or the _ London Road _ about him -- had likewise been convened . It was long after midnight when , with a great _ tow-row _ , a coach full of very merry company -LRB- amongst whom the widow Hambledon struck me as over-merry , perhaps -RRB- landed my other Miss _ sur le perron _ . `` This has decided me . We shall decamp _ sans tambou ni trompette _ . To-morrow , without allowing discussion from the girls -LRB- in which I should probably be worsted -RRB- , we pack ourselves into my travelling coach , and find our Way to you .