two o'clock
Evidently the photograph in its frame has been on the wall a long time . I am glad they happened to put it in what they call the `` spare room , '' so I can look at it whenever I like without anyone noticing . When I went downstairs , dinner was ready in a cool , shady dining-room , with a bare floor painted brown , and a long table down the middle . It was n't quite two o'clock , but it turned out that the family had had their dinner at noon exactly , and this was a meal only for Mr. Brett and me , with Patty and Ide to bring us things from the kitchen and wait upon us , while Mrs. Trowbridge flitted in smiling from time to time , to ask how we were `` getting along . '' It was she who was cooking for us , and I felt quite distressed at the trouble I was giving , on such a hot day , too , but she said she was enjoying it . It was a very funny dinner , according to my ideas , for I never had a meal a bit like it at home , even when I was small and dined in the daytime with the governess . But it was tremendously good , though none of the things went together properly .