nine in the evening
Such were the three girls who were now left to assist each other in the management of the household , and who looked forward to their new offices with the various sensations of pleasure , anxiety , self-importance , and self-mistrust , suited to their differing characters , and to the ages of eighteen , sixteen , and fourteen . ` Just at the age ' twixt boy and youth , When thought is speech , and speech is truth . ' THE long-delayed wedding took place on the 13th of January , 1845 , and the bride and bridegroom immediately departed for a year 's visit among Mr. Hawkesworth 's relations in Northumberland , whence they were to return to Beechcroft , merely for a farewell , before sailing for India . It was half-past nine in the evening , and the wedding over -- Mr. and Mrs. Hawkesworth gone , and the guests departed , the drawing-room had returned to its usual state . It was a very large room , so spacious that it would have been waste and desolate , had it not been well filled with handsome , but heavy old-fashioned furniture , covered with crimson damask , and one side of the room fitted up with a bookcase , so high that there was a spiral flight of library steps to give access to the upper shelves . Opposite were four large windows , now hidden by their ample curtains ; and near them was at one end of the room a piano , at the other a drawing-desk . The walls were wainscoted with polished black oak , the panels reflecting the red fire-light like mirrors .