"The dinner-hour in the country," said a relation of the writer, who
spends a great deal of time in France, "is generally two o'clock, even
when company are invited to partake of the dinner; in which case, the
whole party has quitted the house by six or seven in the evening,--a
custom which ill accords with _English_ ideas of sociability. Three
table-cloths are usually laid upon the table, the first and second of
which are, or may be, removed during the repast; but the third is _never_
drawn off, except to be changed for a clean one. In England, we pride
ourselves upon the fine mahogany of which our dinner-tables are made; we
endeavour to obtain, in the first instance, an excellent piece of wood,
and to improve it by assiduous rubbing and polishing. In France, it
matters not of what material the table is framed; a cloth is always upon
it; and I have seen the hospitable _board_ of many families of rank
literally formed of _deal_."