one o'clock
One enterprising Fresher offered items of her wardrobe on hire , by the hour , day , or week , and reaped thereby quite a goodly sum towards her summer holiday . A blue-silk parasol , in particular , was in universal request , and appeared with _ eclat _ and in different hands at every outdoor function of the week . In after-years Darsie Garnett looked back upon the day of that year on which the Masonic Ball was held with feelings of tender recollection , as a piece of her girlhood which was altogether bright and unclouded . She met the Percival party at one o'clock , and went with them to lunch in Ralph 's rooms , where two other men had been invited to make the party complete . There was hardly room to stir in the overcrowded little study , but the crush seemed but to add to the general hilarity . Ralph made the gayest and most genial of hosts , and the luncheon provided for his guests was a typical specimen of the daring hospitality of his kind ! Iced soup , lobster mayonnaise , salmon and green peas , veal cutlets and mushrooms , trifle , strawberries and cream , and strong coffee , were pressed in turns upon the guests , who -- be it acknowledged at once -- ate , drank , enjoyed , and went forth in peace .