six o'clock
The mistress was a widow , but very gay -- very much of a society lady , and `` handsome as a picture , '' She was upward of forty , but did n't look a day over thirty . She was very proud and high spirited , but treated her help kindly if they did n't cross her . Somehow Mona did not get a very favorable impression of her employer from this gossipy information ; but her fate was fixed for the present , and she resolved to do the best that she could , and not worry regarding the result . As the girl was about to leave the room to go about her duties , she remarked that dinner would be served at six o'clock , and that Mona was to come down to the basement to eat with the other servants . Mona flushed hotly at this information . Must she , who all her life had been the petted child of fortune , go among menials to eat with she knew not whom ? But she soon conquered her momentary indignation , for she realized that she was nothing more than a servant herself now , and could not expect to be treated as an equal by her fashionable employer .