one o’clock
Cowfold too , did much trade in the country round it . Most of the inhabitants kept a gig , and two or three times , perhaps , in a week a journey somewhere or other was necessary which was not in the least like a journey in a railway train . Debts in the villages were collected by the creditor in person , who called and invited his debtors to a most substantial dinner at the inn . At one o'clock Cowfold dined . Between one and two nobody was to be seen in the streets , and the doors were either fastened or a bell was put upon them . After dinner the same duties returned in the shop ; but inside the house dinner was the turning-point of the day . When the `` things were washed , up , '' servant and mistress began to smarten themselves , and disappearing into their bedrooms , emerged at four , to make preparations for tea , the meal most enjoyed in all Cowfold .