about nine in the evening
But she instinctively and powerfully resisted such ideas ; with firmness she put them away , and yielded herself with a more exquisite apprehension to the anticipation of to-morrow . The order of meals at Lane End was somewhat peculiar even then , and would now be almost unique . It was partly the natural expression of an instinctive and justified feeling of superiority , and partly due to a discretion which forbade the family to scandalize the professional classes of the district by dining at night . Dinner occurred in the middle of the day , and about nine in the evening was an informal but copious supper . Between those two meals , there came a tea which was neither high or low , and whose hour , six o'clock in theory , depended to a certain extent , in practice , on Mr. Orgreave 's arrival from the office . Not seldom Mr. Orgreave was late ; occasionally he was very late . The kitchen waited to infuse the tea until a command came from some woman , old or young , who attentively watched a window for a particular swinging of the long gate at the end of the garden , or listened , when it was dark , for the bang of the gate and a particular crunching of gravel .