one o'clock
This was not selfishness in theory , however much it may have been so in practice ; it merely meant that she was unable to introduce variation into a mechanical order ; and , as her husband never dreamed of complaining , Mrs. Hood could see in the arrangement no breach of the fitness of things , even though it meant that poor Hood never sat down to a freshly cooked meal from one end of the year to the other . To Emily it was simply a detestable instance of the worst miseries she had to endure at home . Coming on this first day , it disturbed her much . She knew the uselessness , the danger , of opposing any traditional habit , but her appetite at one o'clock was small . Mrs. Hood did not keep a servant in the house ; she engaged a charwoman once a week , and did all the work at other times herself . This was not strictly necessary ; the expense of such a servant as would have answered purposes could just have been afforded ; again and again Emily had entreated to be allowed to pay a girl out of her own earnings . Mrs. Hood steadily refused .