four o'clock
`` Why , Avice , where hast thou been ? '' says the elder of the two women . `` I was coming , Grandmother , '' explains little Avice , `` and Father Thomas called me , and bade me tell you that the holy Bishop would come to see you this afternoon , and sup his four-hours with you . '' Four-hours , taken as its name shows at four o'clock , was the meal which answered to our tea . Bishops do not often drink tea with women of this class , but this was a peculiar Bishop , and the woman to whom he sent this message was his own foster-sister . `` Truly , and I shall be glad to see him , '' says the Grandmother ; and on they go out of the west door . The carpets which were spread for the Countess have been rolled away , and our three humble friends pick their steps as best they may among the dirt-heaps , occasionally slipping into a puddle -- I am afraid Avice now and then walks into it deliberately for the fun of the splash !