eight in the evening
Half-past five had been her time , till the bishop , who , on an occasion , was to be her guest , once signified to her that such an hour cut up the day and interfered with clerical work . Her lunch was always of bread and cheese , and they who lunched with her either eat that , -- or the bread without the cheese . An afternoon `` tea '' was a thing horrible to her imagination . Tea and buttered toast at half-past eight in the evening was the great luxury of her life . She was as strong as a horse , and had never hitherto known a day 's illness . As a consequence of this , she did not believe in the illness of other people , -- especially not in the illness of women . She did not like a girl who could not drink a glass of beer with her bread and cheese in the middle of the day , and she thought that a glass of port after dinner was good for everybody .