ten o'clock
If remembered , they become laughable enough when looked back upon from future years ; but they are no laughing matter at the time . The terror lest there should be too little on the table , and the consequent danger of there being too much : the fear at once of worrying the cook with too many directions , and leaving any necessary thing unsaid : the trembling doubt of any power of entertainment that may exist in the house ; the anticipation of a yawn on the part of any guest , or of such a silence as may make the creaking of the footboy 's shoes heard at dinner , or the striking of the hall clock in the evening -- these are the apprehensions which make the young wife wish herself on the other side of her first dinner-party , and render alluring the prospect of sitting down next day to hash or cold fowl , followed by odd custards and tartlets , with a stray mince-pie . Where a guest so experienced and so vigilant as Mrs Grey is expected , the anxiety is redoubled , and the servants are sure to discover it by some means or other . Morris woke , this Saturday morning , with the feeling that something great was to happen that day ; and Sally began to be sharp with the footboy as early as ten o'clock . Hester and Margaret were surprised to find how soon there was nothing more left for them to do . The wine was decanted , the dessert dished up in the little storeroom , and even the cake cut for tea , soon enough to leave almost the whole morning to be spent as usual . Margaret sat down to study German , and Hester to read .