ten
o'clock
Now Aunt Katharine was a very real person , though she was also a very busy one , and if it was sometimes difficult to get hold of her during the day , there was always the evening . Then she was quite ready to listen to questions , to hear news , and to go thoroughly into any matters of interest or difficulty which had been saved for that time . The hour immediately after breakfast was devoted to lessons , but it was not easy to talk to Aunt Katharine then , for she had so many things on her mind . She never shortened the time , but the children knew that the moment ten o'clock struck , books must be shut , and Aunt Katharine free to begin her busy round from kitchen to dairy , from garden to poultry-yard and stables . Every part of her pleasant little kingdom was daily visited by this active lady , and it repaid her care within and without , for no one had such good butter , such abundance of fresh eggs , such a well-kept stable , such luxuriantly blooming flowers , and such fine vegetables . No one had a pleasanter house , roomy and cheerful , and not too grandly furnished for children and animals to run about in freely . And Miss Chester 's cares were not confined to her own possessions alone , for nothing that went on in the village of Fieldside , just outside her gates , was unknown to her .