six o'clock
The windows were large and let in every scrap of sunshine ; the passages and hall and stairs were broad and roomy ; the nurseries and the children 's rooms were models of comfort ; the servants were all well behaved and thoroughly accustomed to their duties ; the meals were punctual to a moment ; in fact , nothing was left to chance at Super-Ashton Rectory . Mrs. Dolman was the life and soul of this extremely orderly English home . She was one of the most active little women in the world . She invariably got up , summer and winter , soon after six o'clock , and might be seen bustling about the house , and bustling about the garden , and bustling about the parish from that moment until she retired to rest again , somewhere between ten and eleven at night . She was never exactly cross , but she was very determined . She had strict ideas , and made everyone in the parish not only respect her and look up to her , but live up to her rule of life . She was , as a matter of fact , thought a great deal more of by the parishioners than her husband , the Reverend William Dolman , and the real Rector of Super-Ashton .