midnight
Every blockhead thinks himself at liberty to crack a joke upon them ; and when he says something , that he conceives to be wondrous smart , about Miss Such-an-One and her cat or poodle dog , he conceives himself a marvellous clever fellow ; yea , even those of her own sex who are below what is called a `` certain age '' -LRB- what that age is , I can not tell -RRB- , think themselves privileged to giggle at the expense of their elder sister . Now , though there may be a degree of peevishness -LRB- and it is not to be wondered at -RRB- amongst the sisterhood , yet with them you will find the most sensitive tenderness of heart , a delicacy that quivers , like the aspen leaf , at a breath , and a kindliness of soul that a mother might envy -- or rather , for envy , shall I not write _ imitate _ ? But ah ! if their history were told , what a chronicle would it exhibit of blighted affections , withered hearts , secret tears , and midnight sighs ! The first spinster of whom I have a particular remembrance , as belonging to her caste , was Diana Darling . It is now six and twenty years since Diana paid the debt of nature , up to which period , and for a few years before , she rented a room in Chirnside . It was only a year or two before her death that I became acquainted with her ; and I was then very young .