six o’clock
It sounded all right and he accepted the invitation on condition that they should both be invited . Well , but of course , what else did he think ? And this settled the problem of friends and Christmas Eve . They met at six o'clock at the friend 's flat , and while the two `` old men '' had a glass of punch , the women went into the kitchen . All four helped to lay the table . The two `` old men '' knelt on the floor and tried to lengthen the table by means of boards and wedges . The women were on the best of terms at once , for they felt bound together by that very obvious tie which bears the great name of `` public opinion . ''