three o'clock
In his oft-repeated own phrase , it was his God-given right to dictate all matters , `` even to the ribbons a woman should wear , or the setting up of a stocking . '' And his people had not only submitted blindly to his rule , but had reverenced and even loved him for it . Twenty-five years of such allegiance , preceded by a youth in which the same gospel of obedience was bred into his marrow -- this was not to be thrown off by a mere heartache ; not to be more than striven against , half-heartedly , in the first moment of anguish . He thought of Brigham 's home in the Lion House , the score or so of plain , elderly women , hard-working , simple-minded ; the few favourites of his later years , women of sightlier exteriors ; and he pictured the long dining-room , where , at three o'clock each afternoon , to the sound of a bell , these wives and half a hundred children marched in , while the Prophet sat benignantly at the head of the table and blessed the meal . He tried to fix Prudence in this picture , but at every effort he saw , not her , the shy , sweet woman , full of surprised tenderness , but a creature hardened , debased , devoid of charm , dehumanised , a brood-beast of the field . And yet this was not rebellion . His mind was clear as to that .