seven o'clock
The gong began to boom as the two girls came into the room , and the rest of the family dropped in through the open windows at the same moment , Aunt Betsy bringing up the rear . There was no nursery dinner at The Knoll . Colonel Wendover allowed his children to dine with him from the day they were able to manage their knives and forks . Save on state occasions , the whole brood sat down with their father and mother to the seven o'clock dinner ; as the young sprigs of the House of Orleans used to sit round good King Louis Philippe in his tranquil retirement at Claremont . Even the lisping girl who loved pigs had her place at the board , and knew how to behave herself . There was a subdued struggle for the seat next Ida , whom the Colonel had placed on his right , but Reginald , the elder of the Winchester boys , asserted his claim with a quiet firmness that proved irresistible . Grace was said with solemn brevity by the Colonel , whose sum total of orthodoxy was comprised in that brief grace , and in regular attendance at church on Sunday mornings ; and then there came a period of chatter and laughter which might have been a little distracting to a stranger .