four to six o'clock
Social entertainment presupposes in the Anglo-Saxon mind something to eat , and not only something , but a great deal . Enormous dinners or great suppers constitute the entertainment . Nobody seems to have formed the idea that the talking -- the simple exchange of social feelings -- is , of itself , the entertainment , and that being together is the pleasure . `` Madame Rocamier for years had a circle of friends who met every afternoon in her salon from four to six o'clock , for the simple and sole pleasure of talking with each other . The very first wits and men of letters and statesmen and savans were enrolled in it , and each brought to the entertainment some choice morceau which he had laid aside from his own particular field to add to the feast . The daily intimacy gave each one such perfect insight into all the others ' habits of thought , tastes , and preferences , that the conversation was like the celebrated music of the Conservatoire in Paris , a concert of perfectly chorded instruments taught by long habit of harmonious intercourse to keep exact time and tune together . `` Real conversation presupposes intimate acquaintance .