seven in the evening
Except on Sundays , high festivals , the first , the middle , and the last day of carnival , through all the time of my acquaintance with him , I never knew him break these habits but once , and that was when his mother died at Mestre and he had to attend the funeral . On that occasion he must rise at six , and miss his dinner at noon . He was furious , I never saw a man so angry . I can not tell how or when it was that I first spent the whole of my afternoons in Aurelia 's society , nor how or when it was that , instead of leaving her house at seven in the evening , I stayed on with her till the stroke of nine , within a few minutes of the doctor 's homecoming . It is a thing as remarkable as true that nothing is easier to form than a habit , and nothing more difficult to break . Formed and unbroken these habits were , unheeded by ourselves , but not altogether unperceived . There was one member of the household who perceived them , and never approved .