Ten o'clock
They even appeared to be properly apprehensive , and crowded a little closer to the knees of the grown-ups , all the while eyeing the door at the upper end of the room . Melissa 's involuntary snort was not enlightening to the children , but it served as a spur to Mr. Bingle , who abruptly gave over being sentimental and set about the pleasant task of distributing the packages on the table . Hilarity took the place of a necessary reserve , and before one could say Jack Robinson the little sitting-room was as boisterous a place as you 'd find in a month 's journey and no one would have suspected that Mr. and Mrs. Bingle were eating their hearts out because the noisy crew belonged to the heaven-blest Mrs. Sykes and not to them . Ten o'clock came . Mr. and Mrs. Bingle sat side by side in front of the fireplace , her hand in his . The floor was littered with white tissue paper , red ribbons , peanut hulls and other by-products of festivity ; the rugs were scuffled up and hopelessly awry ; chairs were out of their accustomed places -- two or three of them no longer stood upon their legs as upright chairs should do -- and the hearth was strewn with coals from an overturned scuttle . Candle grease solidified on the mantelpiece and dripped unseen upon the mahogany bookcase -- all unnoticed by the dreamy , desolate Bingles .