five o'clock
No one believed that he was expected , or that there was a single place in the neighborhood where he was welcome . But they were so anxious to be rid of him that they put the thought aside and let him depart . `` He wished it himself , '' they said ; and then they thought that now they would be glad . But when they gathered in the dining room at five o'clock to drink tea and to dance round the Christmas-tree , Liljekrona was silent and out of spirits . He did not seat himself on the bench ; he touched neither tea nor punch ; he could not remember any polka ; the violin was out of order . Those who could play and dance had to do it without him . Then his wife grew uneasy ; the children were discontented , everything in the house went wrong .