one o'clock in
the morning
On the one side Fielding ranged the suitors , or those whom he considered such ; on the other the vagaries of the girl . Playing these forces off not merely against each other , but against themselves as well -- for , as he pointed out , there was no harmony in the separate camps -- he evolved an infinite number of endless complications . There was consequently no end to the discussion , not even when Clarice was argued through the marriage ceremony . For that point Fielding took to represent the one o'clock in the morning of a carnival ball ; then the fun really begins , though decent people have to go away . Mrs. Willoughby was , as ever , staunch in her defence , though a recollection of Clarice 's tearful visit with Conway 's arrival for a climax prompted her now and again to laugh in the midst of it . ` You mistake thoughtlessness for tricks , ' she said . ` Clarice is only a child as yet . '