three o'clock
`` The plums want gathering , papa , '' Percy said , returning from cutting the lettuces . `` It was arranged that our cousins should come over , when they were ripe , and have a regular picking . They have no plums , and Madame Duburg wants them for preserving . May we go over after dinner , and ask them to come in at three o'clock , and spend the evening ? '' `` Certainly , '' Captain Barclay said ; `` and you can give your mamma 's compliments , and ask if your uncle and Madame Duburg will come in , after they have dined . The young ones will make their dinner at our six o'clock tea . '' In France early dinner is a thing scarcely known , even among the peasantry ; that is to say , their meals are taken at somewhat the same time as ours are , but are called by different names .