What is the tone of a beekeeper's manual?

Rewrite the paragraph below, correcting the shifts in verb tense.

Mr. Firman invited his friend, Mr. Nulty, to come over and have dinner with him and Mrs. Smith. The maid fixed a big dinner for the three of them, and when they were ready for dessert, she brought a cake out for Mr. Nulty because it was his fifty-ninth birthday. The candles were lit and the lights were turned out so that he could blow out the candles in the dark. Mrs. Smith then began to clear the table of the food and dishes.

dont know if its the right answer