midnight
Our youth thanked him very politely for his favourable sentiments and honourable intention towards his sister , and told him , that at present he saw no reason to obstruct his desire ; that he would consult Julia 's own inclinations , and confer with him about the means of gratifying his wish ; but , in the meantime , begged to be excused from discussing any point of such importance to them both . Reminding him of the jovial purpose on which they were happily met , he promoted such a quick circulation of the bottle , that their mirth grew noisy and obstreperous ; they broke forth into repeated peals of laughter , without any previous incitement except that of claret . These explosions were succeeded by Bacchanalian songs , in which the old gentleman himself attempted to bear a share ; the sedate governor snapped time with his fingers , and the parish priest assisted in the chorus with a most expressive nakedness of countenance . Before midnight they were almost all pinned to their chairs , as if they had been fixed by the power of enchantment ; and , what rendered the confinement still more unfortunate , every servant in the house was in the same situation ; so that they were fain to take their repose as they sat , and nodded at each other like a congregation of Anabaptists . Next day Peregrine communed with his sister on the subject of her match with Mr. Clover , who , she told him , had offered to settle a jointure of four hundred pounds , and take her to wife without any expectation of a dowry . She moreover gave him to understand , that , in his absence , she had received several messages from her mother , commanding her to return to her father 's house ; but that she had refused to obey these orders , by the advice and injunction of her aunt and the commodore , which were indeed seconded by her own inclination ; because she had all the reason in the world to believe , that her mother only wanted an opportunity of treating her with severity and rancour . The resentment of that lady had been carried to such indecent lengths , that , seeing her daughter at church one day , she rose up , before the parson entered , and reviled her with great bitterness , in the face of the whole congregation .