six o’clock
She looked out fresh linen , saw to the washing , and laid in provisions without consulting anybody . She decided everything that went on in the house , and the date when the pigs were to be killed . She scolded the gardener , decreed the menu at breakfast and dinner , and went from cellar to garret , and from garret to cellar , setting everything to rights according to her notions , without a word of opposition of any sort or description . Benassis had made but two stipulations -- he wished to dine at six o'clock , and that the household expenses should not exceed a certain fixed sum every month . A woman whom every one obeys in this way is always singing , so Jacquotte laughed and warbled on the staircase ; she was always humming something when she was not singing , and singing when she was not humming . Jacquotte had a natural liking for cleanliness , so she kept the house neat and clean . If her tastes had been different , it would have been a sad thing for M. Benassis -LRB- so she was wont to say -RRB- , for the poor man was so little particular that you might feed him on cabbage for partridges , and he would not find it out ; and if it were not for her , he would very often wear the same shirt for a week on end .