five o’clock to
eight
Part of the afternoon had waned , but much of it was left , and what was left was of the finest and rarest quality . Real dusk would not arrive for many hours ; but the flood of summer light had begun to ebb , the air had grown mellow , the shadows were long upon the smooth , dense turf . They lengthened slowly , however , and the scene expressed that sense of leisure still to come which is perhaps the chief source of one 's enjoyment of such a scene at such an hour . From five o'clock to eight is on certain occasions a little eternity ; but on such an occasion as this the interval could be only an eternity of pleasure . The persons concerned in it were taking their pleasure quietly , and they were not of the sex which is supposed to furnish the regular votaries of the ceremony I have mentioned . The shadows on the perfect lawn were straight and angular ; they were the shadows of an old man sitting in a deep wicker-chair near the low table on which the tea had been served , and of two younger men strolling to and fro , in desultory talk , in front of him . The old man had his cup in his hand ; it was an unusually large cup , of a different pattern from the rest of the set and painted in brilliant colours .