three o'clock
` Upon my word , I do n't know , ' said the Lady Margaretta , ` for I was half asleep . But I do know that I was called sometime in the middle of the night , and was dressing myself before daylight . ' Wise people , when they are in the wrong , always put themselves right by finding fault with the people against whom they have sinned . Lady De Courcy was a wise woman ; and therefore , having treated Miss Thorne very badly by staying away till three o'clock , she assumed the offensive and attacked Mr Thorne 's roads . Her daughter , not less wise , attacked Miss Thorne 's early hours . The art of doing this is among the most precious of those usually cultivated by persons who know how to live . There is no withstanding it .