seven o'clock
Val went further away , keeping the direction of the stream : the brushwood might no longer be safe . He did not think they had seen him : the man he dreaded had his back to him , the other his face . And that other was Pike . Dinner at Hartledon had been ordered for seven o'clock . It was beyond that hour when Dr. Ashton arrived , for he had been detained -- a clergyman 's time is not always under his own control . Anne and Arthur were with him , but not Mrs. Ashton . He came in , ready with an apology for his tardiness , but found he need not offer it ; neither Lord Hartledon nor his brother having yet appeared .