twelve
o'clock at night
He had apparently sunk into the earth on leaving Mr. and Mrs. Farfrae 's door . Elizabeth-Jane remembered what he had once attempted ; and trembled . But though she did not know it Henchard had become a changed man since then -- as far , that is , as change of emotional basis can justify such a radical phrase ; and she needed not to fear . In a few days Farfrae 's inquiries elicited that Henchard had been seen by one who knew him walking steadily along the Melchester highway eastward , at twelve o'clock at night -- in other words , retracing his steps on the road by which he had come . This was enough ; and the next morning Farfrae might have been discovered driving his gig out of Casterbridge in that direction , Elizabeth-Jane sitting beside him , wrapped in a thick flat fur -- the victorine of the period -- her complexion somewhat richer than formerly , and an incipient matronly dignity , which the serene Minerva-eyes of one `` whose gestures beamed with mind '' made becoming , settling on her face . Having herself arrived at a promising haven from at least the grosser troubles of her life , her object was to place Henchard in some similar quietude before he should sink into that lower stage of existence which was only too possible to him now . After driving along the highway for a few miles they made further inquiries , and learnt of a road-mender , who had been working thereabouts for weeks , that he had observed such a man at the time mentioned ; he had left the Melchester coachroad at Weatherbury by a forking highway which skirted the north of Egdon Heath .