three o’clock
Mrs. Lacy and her pupil dined at the ladies ' luncheon ; and this was pleasanter than the breakfast , from the presence of Aunt Jane , whose kiss of greeting was a comforting cheering moment , and who always was so much distressed and hurt at the sight of her sister 's displeasure , that Aunt Barbara seldom reproved before her . She always had a kind word to say ; Mrs. Lacy seemed brighter and less oppressed in the sound of her voice ; everyone was more at ease ; and when speaking to her , or waiting upon her , Lady Barbara was no longer stern in manner nor dry in voice . The meal was not lively ; there was nothing like the talk about parish matters , nor the jokes that she was used to ; and though she was helped first , and ceremoniously waited on , she might not speak unless she was spoken to ; and was it not very cruel , first to make everything so dull that no one could help yawning , and then to treat a yawn as a dire offence ? The length of the luncheon was a great infliction , because all the time from that to three o'clock was her own . It was a poor remnant of the entire afternoons which she and Sylvia had usually disposed of much as they pleased ; and even what there was of it , was not to be spent in the way for which the young limbs longed . No one was likely to play at blind man 's buff and hare and hounds in that house ; and even her poor attempt at throwing her gloves or a pen-wiper against the wall , and catching them in the rebound , and her scampers up-stairs two steps at once , and runs down with a leap down the last four steps , were summarily stopped , as unladylike , and too noisy for Aunt Jane . Kate did get a private run and leap whenever she could , but never with a safe conscience ; and that spoilt the pleasure , or made it guilty and alarmed .