five o'clock
He could hardly be called company for Tonelli , who must have found the day intolerably long but for the visit which the notary 's pretty granddaughter contrived to pay every morning in the cheerless _ mezzà _ . She commonly appeared on some errand from her mother , but her chief business seemed to be to share with Tonelli the modest feast of rumor and hearsay which he loved to furnish forth for her , and from which doubtless she carried back some fragments of gossip to the family apartments . Tonelli called her , with that mingled archness and tenderness of the Venetians , his Paronsina ; and , as he had seen her grow up from the smallest possible of Little Mistresses , there was no shyness between them , and they were fully privileged to each other 's society by her mother . When she flitted away again , Tonelli was left to a stillness broken only by the soft breathing of the old man in the next room , and by the shrill discourse of his own loquacious pen , so that he was commonly glad enough when it came five o'clock . At this hour he put on his black coat , that shone with constant use , and his faithful silk hat , worn down to the pasteboard with assiduous brushing , and caught up a very jaunty cane in his hand . Then , saluting the notary , he took his way to the little restaurant , where it was his custom to dine , and had his tripe soup and his _ risotto _ , or dish of fried liver , in the austere silence imposed by the presence of a few poor Austrian captains and lieutenants . It was not that the Italians feared to be overheard by these enemies ; but it was good _ dimostrazione _ to be silent before the oppressor , and not let him know that they even enjoyed their dinners well enough , under his government , to chat sociably over them .