three o'clock
and had she seen the young ladies -- and specially Lady Caroline Campbell ? '' -- To these questions Jeanie gave the general reply , that she knew so little of the town that she could not tell exactly where she had been ; that she had not seen the Duchess to her knowledge ; that she had seen two ladies , one of whom , she understood , bore the name of Caroline ; and more , she said , she could not tell about the matter . `` It would be the Duke 's eldest daughter , Lady Caroline Campbell , there is no doubt of that , '' said Mrs. Glass ; `` but doubtless , I shall know more particularly through his Grace . -- And so , as the cloth is laid in the little parlour above stairs , and it is past three o'clock , for I have been waiting this hour for you , and I have had a snack myself ; and , as they used to say in Scotland in my time -- I do not ken if the word be used now -- there is ill talking between a full body and a fasting . '' Heaven first taught letters for some wretch 's aid , -- Some banished lover or some captive maid . Pope . By dint of unwonted labour with the pen , Jeanie Deans contrived to indite , and give to the charge of the postman on the ensuing day , no less than three letters , an exertion altogether strange to her habits ; insomuch so , that , if milk had been plenty , she would rather have made thrice as many Dunlop cheeses .