three in the afternoon
That is to say , that there was lunch for Mrs. Falbe and anybody else who happened to be there at half-past one ; tea in Mrs. Falbe 's well-liked sitting-room at five , and dinner at eight . These meals -- Mrs. Falbe always breakfasted in her bedroom -- were served with quiet decorum . Apart from them , anybody who required anything consulted the cook personally . Hermann , for instance , would have spent the morning at his piano in the vast studio at the back of their house in Maidstone Crescent , and not arrived at the fact that it was lunch time till perhaps three in the afternoon . Unless then he settled to do without lunch altogether , he must forage for himself ; or Sylvia , having to sing at a concert at eight , would return famished and exultant about ten ; she would then proceed to provide herself , unless she supped elsewhere , with a plate of eggs and bacon , or anything else that was easily accessible . It was not from preference that these haphazard methods were adopted ; but since they only kept two servants , it was clear that a couple of women , however willing , could not possibly cope with so irregular a commissariat in addition to the series of fixed hours and the rest of the household work . As it was , two splendidly efficient persons , one German , the other English , had filled the posts of parlourmaid and cook for the last eight years , and regarded themselves , and were regarded , as members of the family .