nine o'clock
`` An ideal house , '' says Brandolin , who would not stay a day where he was not as free as air . `` It 's too much like an hotel , '' grumbles the master of it , `` and an hotel where the _ table-d'hôte _ bell rings to deaf ears . Lord ! I remember in my poor mother 's days everybody had to be down to breakfast at nine o'clock every morning as regularly as if they were charity children , and the whole lot of 'em were marched off to church on Sunday whether they liked it or not . The villagers used to line the path across the fields to see the great folks pass . Now it 's as much as ever Dolly can do to get a woman or two up in time to go with her . How things are changed , by Jove !