six o'clock
Altogether perhaps a hundred and twenty persons were within Padley Manor -- and the gate secured -- by six o'clock . Meanwhile , within , the priest had been busy since half-past four with the hearing of confessions . He sat in the chapel beside the undecked altar , and they came to him one by one . The household and a few of the nearer neighbours had done their duty in this matter the day before , and a good number had already made their Easter duties earlier in Lent ; so by six o'clock all was finished . Then began the bustle . A group of ladies , FitzHerberts and Fentons , entered , so soon as the priest gave the signal by tapping on the parlour wall , bearing all things necessary for the altar ; and it was astonishing what fine things these were ; so that by the time that the priest was ready to vest , the place was transformed . Stuffs and embroideries hung upon the wall about the altar , making it seem , indeed , a sanctuary ; two tall silver candlesticks , used for no other purpose , stood upon the linen cloths , under which rested the slate altar-stone , taken , with the sacred vessels and the vestments , from one of the privy hiding-holes , with whose secret not a living being without the house , and not more than two or three within , was acquainted .