ten o'clock
They mixed most incongruous things together ; they loved very strong tastes , delighting in garlic and verjuice ; they never appear to have paid the slightest regard to their digestion , and they were , in the most emphatic sense , not teetotallers . The dining-hall , but not the table , was decorated with flowers , and singers , often placed in a gallery at one end , were employed the whole time . A gentleman usher acted as butler , and a yeoman was always at hand to keep out strange dogs , snuff candles , and light to bed the guests , who were not always in a condition to find their way upstairs without his help . The hours at this time were nine or ten o'clock for dinner -LRB- except on fast-days , when it was at noon -RRB- , and three or four for supper . Two meals a day were thought sufficient for all men who were not invalids . The sick and women sometimes had a `` rear-supper '' at six o'clock or later . As to breakfast , it was a meal taken only by some persons , and then served in the bedchamber or private boudoir at convenience .