eleven o'clock
Mrs. Rymer was always busy , and without fuss , without irritation . She had a large correspondence ; but it was not often that people called . No guest was ever invited to lunch or dinner . All this while the master of the house kept regular hours , leaving home at nine and returning at seven ; if he went out after dinner , which happened rarely , he was always back by eleven o'clock . No more respectable man than Mr. Rymer ; none more even-tempered , more easily pleased , more consistently polite and amiable . That he and his wife were very fond of each other appeared in all their talk and behaviour ; both worshipped the children , and , in spite of that , trained them with a considerable measure of good sense . In the evenings Mr. Rymer sometimes read aloud , or he would talk instructively of the affairs of the day .