five o'clock
What 's the use ? '' The young man did not say `` carpe diem , '' but that was the philosophy which he intended to preach . `` Have you been at the Melmottes ' to-day ? '' It was now five o'clock on a winter afternoon , the hour at which ladies are drinking tea , and idle men playing whist at the clubs , -- at which young idle men are sometimes allowed to flirt , and at which , as Lady Carbury thought , her son might have been paying his court to Marie Melmotte the great heiress . `` I have just come away . '' `` And what do you think of her ? '' `` To tell the truth , mother , I have thought very little about her .