nearly midnight
Would he tell her that his very action , when he wiped his forehead and looked so stealthily about him , did n't show that there was something weighing on the conscience of his precious Snitcheys -LRB- if he had a conscience -RRB- , that would n't bear the light ? Did anybody but his Snitcheys come to festive entertainments like a burglar ? -- which , by the way , was hardly a clear illustration of the case , as he had walked in very mildly at the door . And would he still assert to her at noon-day -LRB- it being nearly midnight -RRB- , that his Snitcheys were to be justified through thick and thin , against all facts , and reason , and experience ? Neither Snitchey nor Craggs openly attempted to stem the current which had thus set in , but , both were content to be carried gently along it , until its force abated . This happened at about the same time as a general movement for a country dance ; when Mr. Snitchey proposed himself as a partner to Mrs. Craggs , and Mr. Craggs gallantly offered himself to Mrs. Snitchey ; and after some such slight evasions as ` why do n't you ask somebody else ? ' and ` you 'll be glad , I know , if I decline , ' and ` I wonder you can dance out of the office ' -LRB- but this jocosely now -RRB- , each lady graciously accepted , and took her place .