ten
o'clock
I would n't mind giving out the stores for a spell , now and again . Well ! ... I 'll just mouch round , and be ready for you when you set out for your walk . '' Miss Briskett left the room , in blissful ignorance of what `` mouch '' might mean , and much too dignified to inquire , but by the time that ten o'clock had struck , she had learnt to connect the expression with all that was irritating and presumptuous . In the midst of her discussion with the cook , for instance , the sound of music burst upon her ears ; the echo of that disused piano which had almost forgotten to be anything but a stand for ornaments and lamps . Bang went the bass , crash went the treble , the tune a well-known dance , played with a dash and a spirt , a rollicking marking of time irresistible to any human creature under forty , who did not suffer from corns on their toes . In the recesses of the scullery a subdued scuffling was heard .