six o'clock
The only difference this evening would be , that mother would pour it out instead , and cut the thick bread and butter for the hungry boys . She saw it all , and as she saw it she shook her head . `` Certainly , '' she said to herself , `` it is a bad thing to be poor . '' Dinner was at six o'clock , because it did not suit Mrs Fotheringham 's digestion to dine later ; it was a solemn and delicately prepared little meal , served by a maid who stepped about silently , never clattering the dishes , and this absence of noise was in itself a strange thing to Iris , for she was used to associate food with much rattle of knives and forks and clash of crockery . There were many nice things to eat and pretty things to look at , but it was rather awful , too , to sit in almost perfect silence and listen to the remarks of Mrs Fotheringham and Miss Munnion . Opposite to Iris there was a long low window , through which she could see part of the lawn and a path leading to the kitchen-garden . She sat gazing vacantly out upon this , when suddenly she saw something very interesting .