eight o'clock
`` My Lord , '' answered Barnabas , struggling with his shirt , `` were you to call from now till doomsday -- I should n't come . '' `` Then , sir , '' said the Viscount , cold and sneering , `` a whip , perhaps , -- or a cane might -- '' But at this juncture , with a discreet knock , Peterby entered , and , having bowed to the scowling Viscount , proceeded to invest Barnabas with polished boots , waistcoat and scarlet coat , and to tie his voluminous cravat , all with that deftness , that swift and silent dexterity which helped to make him the marvel he was . `` Sir , '' said he , when Barnabas stood equipped from head to foot , `` Captain Slingsby 's groom called to say that his master and the Marquis of Jerningham are expecting you and Viscount Devenham to breakfast at ` The Chequers ' -- a little higher up the street , sir . Breakfast is ordered for eight o'clock . '' `` Thank you , Peterby , '' said Barnabas , and , bowing to the Viscount , followed him from the room and downstairs , out into the dewy freshness of the morning . To avoid the crowded street they went by a field-path behind the inn , a path which to-day was beset by , and wound between , booths and stalls and carts of all sorts . And here was gathered a motley crowd ; bespangled tumblers and acrobats , dark-browed gipsy fortune-tellers and horse-coupers , thimble-riggers , showmen , itinerant musicians , -- all those nomads who are to be found on every race-course , fair , and village green , when the world goes a-holiday making .