seven o'clock
`` Am I ? Be honest ! Take the life of a Malloring and take it at its best ; see how it stands comparison in the ordinary virtues with those of an averagely good specimen of a farm-laborer . Your Malloring is called with a cup of tea , at , say , seven o'clock , out of a nice , clean , warm bed ; he gets into a bath that has been got ready for him ; into clothes and boots that have been brushed for him ; and goes down to a room where there 's a fire burning already if it 's a cold day , writes a few letters , perhaps , before eating a breakfast of exactly what he likes , nicely prepared for him , and reading the newspaper that best comforts his soul ; when he has eaten and read , he lights his cigar or his pipe and attends to his digestion in the most sanitary and comfortable fashion ; then in his study he sits down to steady direction of other people , either by interview or by writing letters , or what not . In this way , between directing people and eating what he likes , he passes the whole day , except that for two or three hours , sometimes indeed seven or eight hours , he attends to his physique by riding , motoring , playing a game , or indulging in a sport that he has chosen for himself . And , at the end of all that , he probably has another bath that has been made ready for him , puts on clean clothes that have been put out for him , goes down to a good dinner that has been cooked for him , smokes , reads , learns , and inwardly digests , or else plays cards , billiards , and acts host till he is sleepy , and so to bed , in a clean , warm bed , in a clean , fresh room . Is that exaggerated ? ''