midnight
`` I 'll go to-morrow when we have washed up . '' On Friday Esther had had to give her father more money for drink . She gave him two shillings , and that made a sovereign that he had had from her . On Saturday night he had been brought home helplessly drunk long after midnight , and next morning one of the girls had to fetch him a drop of something to pull him together . He had lain in bed until dinner-time , swearing he would brain anyone who made the least noise . Even the Sunday dinner , a nice beef-steak pudding , hardly tempted him , and he left the table saying that if he could find Tom Carter they would take a penny boat and go for a blow on the river . The whole family waited for his departure .