seven
o'clock
He loved to welcome old and young to the noble hall of his mansion , a spacious and lofty chamber , which had formed part of the ancient manor-house , and had been of late years converted into a rectory . He loved to see them clad in the comfortable garments which his purse had provided -- the old women in their gray woollen gowns and scarlet cloaks , the little children brightly arrayed , like so many Red Riding hoods . It was a pleasant sight truly , and there was a dimness in the rector 's eyes , as he stood at the head of a long table , at two o'clock on Christmas-day , to say grace before the dinner spread for those humble Christmas guests . All the poor of the parish had been invited to dine with their pastor on Christmas-day , and this two o'clock dinner was a greater pleasure to the rector of Hallgrove than the repast which was to be served at seven o'clock for himself and the guests of his own rank . There were some people in Hallgrove and its neighbourhood who said that Lionel Dale took more pleasure in this life than a clergyman and a good Christian should take ; but surely those who had seen him seated by the bed of sickness , or ministering to the needs of affliction , could scarcely have grudged him the innocent happiness of his hours of relaxation . The one thing in which he himself felt that he was perhaps open to blame , was in his passion for the sports of the field . No one who had stood amongst the little group at the top of the long table in Hallgrove Manor-house on this snowy Christmas morning could have doubted that the heart of Lionel Dale was true to the very core .