half past six
Only I -- that 's what I feel , if you ask me . '' And having talked the colour into her cheeks , and the tears into her eyes , Nancy turned her back upon her husband , and looked out into the garden again . That same week Bert brought home the deeds , and put them down on the dinner table before her . Nancy usually started the meal promptly at half past six , so that the children 's first raging appetites might be partly assuaged ; bread was buttered , milk poured , bibs tied , and all the excitement of commencing the meal abated when Bert came in . It was far from being the ideal arrangement , both parents admitted that , but like a great many other abridgements and changes in the domestic routine , it worked . The rule was that no one was to interrupt Dad until he had talked a little to Mother , and had his soup , and this worked well , too . It was while the soup-plates were going out that Bert usually lifted his daughter bodily into his arms , and paid some little attention to his sons .