eleven o'clock
`` Yes , Joseph , we will come . '' I went home to tell Father Goulden of my invitation , and he was all the more pleased as Catherine and her aunt were to be there also . I never had been more happy than when thinking of having my beloved , my best friend , and all those whom I loved the most , together at our house . That day at eleven o'clock our large room on the first floor was a pretty sight to see . The floor had been well scrubbed , the round table in the middle of the room was covered with a beautiful cloth with red stripes and six large silver covers upon it , the napkins folded like a boat in the shining plates , the salt-cellar and the sealed bottles , and the large cut glasses sparkling in the sun which came over the groups of lilac ranged along the windows . Mr. Goulden wished to have everything in abundance , grand and magnificent , as he would for princes and embassadors , and he had taken his silver from the basket , a most unusual thing ; I had made the soup myself . In it there were three pounds of good meat , a head of cabbage , carrots in abundance , indeed everything necessary ; except that , -- which you can never have so good at an hotel , -- everything had been ordered by Mr. Goulden himself from the `` Ville de Metz . ''