four o'clock in
the afternoon
The Mayor invited them to supper . The nearest Justice , who was a family man , with a notable wife , had them to a domestic party , where they heard a little girl repeat a fable , and saw the little coach which the Justice had presented to his son and heir , then in long clothes , in which he was to be drawn along the smooth oak boarded passages of the paternal mansion as soon as he could sit upright . Lastly , Clarissa Gage , under the sufficient guardianship of Cambridge , treated the strangers to a real piece of sport -- a hop on the washing-green , under her mulberry-tree . It commenced at four o'clock in the afternoon , and ended with dusk and the bats , and a gipsy fire , and roasting groats and potatoes in the hot ashes , in imitation of the freakish oyster supper which Clary had attended in town . Clary took care to have her six couples well assorted , and not to be severed till the merry-making was over ; she did not mind uniting herself to Master Sam Winnington , and Dulcie to Master Will Locke -- mind ! the arrangement was a courteous compliment to the chief guests , and it gave continual point to the entertainment . The company took a hilarious pleasure in associating the four two-and-two , and commented openly on the distribution : `` Mistress Clary is mighty condescending to this jackanapes . ''