nearly ten o'clock
`` What is your last new song , eh , Harding ? '' said the Major ; `` now is the time to ventilate it . '' `` I 've been too busy shearing for song-writing , Major . '' Soon after this we went in , and there we sat till nearly ten o'clock , laughing , joking , singing , and drinking punch . Mary sat between James Stockbridge and Tom , and they three spoke together so exclusively and so low , that the rest of us were quite forgotten . Mary was smiling and laughing , first at one and then at the other , in her old way , and now and then as I glanced at her I could hardly help sighing . But I soon remembered certain resolutions I had made , and tried not to notice the trio , but to make myself agreeable to the others .