three o’clock
Mrs. Martha Bethune Baliol always went through the actual duties of the toilette in an inner apartment , which corresponded with her sleeping-room by a small detached staircase . There were , I believe , more than one of those TURNPIKE STAIRS , as they were called , about the house , by which the public rooms , all of which entered through each other , were accommodated with separate and independent modes of access . In the little boudoir we have described , Mrs. Martha Baliol had her choicest meetings . She kept early hours ; and if you went in the morning , you must not reckon that space of day as extending beyond three o'clock , or four at the utmost . These vigilant habits were attended with some restraint on her visitors , but they were indemnified by your always finding the best society and the best information which were to be had for the day in the Scottish capital . Without at all affecting the blue stocking , she liked books . They amused her ; and if the authors were persons of character , she thought she owed them a debt of civility , which she loved to discharge by personal kindness .