nine in the morning
This was about seven o'clock , which was then as late an hour as it was thought that respectable people ought to be about . But by two o'clock the next morning , Bertha was sweeping the kitchen , and Avice carding flax in the corner . They did not trouble themselves about breakfast ; it was an unknown luxury , except for people who were very old or very delicate . Two meals a day were the rule : dinner , at nine in the morning : supper , at three in the afternoon . In those days they lived in a far harder and less comfortable way than we do , and they had generally better health . But , it must be admitted , they did not live nearly so long , and the infant mortality among them was very great . Morning was no time for story-telling .