seven o'clock
I have no leisure now to discuss those matters with thee . '' On holidays this routine of Tonelli 's life was varied . In the forenoon he went to mass at St. Mark 's , to see the beauty and fashion of the city ; and then he took a walk with his four or five young friends , or went with them to play at bowls , or even made an excursion to the main land , where they hired a carriage , and all those Venetians got into it , like so many seamen , and drove the horse with as little mercy as if he had been a sail-boat . At seven o'clock Tonelli dined with the notary , next whom he sat at table , and for whom his quaint pleasantries had a zest that inspired the Paronsina and her mother to shout them into his dull ears , that he might lose none of them . He laughed a kind of faded laugh at them , and , rubbing his pale hands together , showed by his act that he did not think his best wine too good for his kindly guest . The signora feigned to take the same delight shown by her father and daughter in Tonelli 's drolleries ; but I doubt if she had a great sense of his humor , or , indeed , cared anything for it save as she perceived that it gave pleasure to those she loved . Otherwise , however , she had a sincere regard for him , for he was most useful and devoted to her in her quality of widowed mother ; and if she could not feel wit , she could feel gratitude , which is perhaps the rarer gift , if not the more respectable .