eight
o'clock
It was a pleasant , idle afternoon , passed amidst so bright and fair a scene , that the beauty of her surroundings alone was enough to give Clarissa 's life a new zest -- a day which the mind recalls in the stormier periods of after-life , wondering at its gracious peace , its utter freedom from care or thought . Too soon came the time when there could be no more of such girlish happiness for Clarissa , such perfect respite from thought of to-morrow , or regret for yesterday . By-and-by came dressing for dinner , and then an assemblage of visitors in the drawing-room -- county people from neighbouring parks and halls and courts -- mingling pleasantly with the Castle guests , and then dinner in the great dining-room ; a splendid chamber , with a music-gallery at one end , and with the earliest crystal chandeliers ever used in England , and given by Queen Elizabeth to the Lord of Hale , for its chief decorations . At eight o'clock these crystal chandeliers glittered with the light of many wax-candles , though there was still the soft glow of sunset in the gardens beyond the great gothic windows . That first visit to a great country house was like a new page in life to Clarissa . She had not wearied of her quiet existence at Mill Cottage , her books , her art , her freedom from the monotonous tasks and dull restraints of school ; but she felt that if life could always be like this , it would be something very sweet and joyous . Captain Westleigh had contrived to take her in to dinner .