four o'clock
She seemed to have forgotten the presence of Phyl . Holding the chest 's lid open , she gazed at the coloured and futile contents . Then she closed the lid of the chest with a sigh . The South dines at four o'clock -- at least Charleston does . It was the old English custom and the old Irish custom , too . In the reign of William the Conqueror people dined at eleven A.M. or was it ten ? Then , as civilisation advanced , the dinner hour stole forward .