five o'clock
Oh ! my friends , pay for the brandy and water , though you never drank it ; suffer the fire to pass , though it never warmed you . Why make a good man miserable for such a trifle ? It became notified to Reddypalm with sufficient clearness that his bill for the past election should be paid without further question ; and , therefore , at five o'clock the Mayor of Barchester proclaimed the results of the contest in the following figures : -- Scatcherd 378 Moffat 376 Mr Reddypalm 's two votes had decided the question . Mr Nearthewinde immediately went up to town ; and the dinner party at Courcy Castle that evening was not a particularly pleasant meal . This much , however , had been absolutely decided before the yellow committee concluded their labour at the White Horse : there should be a petition . Mr Nearthewinde had not been asleep , and already knew something of the manner in which Mr Reddypalm 's mind had been quieted .