seven o'clock
Cold showers and raw breezes made the passers through the streets of Crossbourne fold themselves together , and expose as little surface as was possible to the inclemency of the weather ; so that when James Barnes and Thomas Bradly left the station by the early and mid-day trains , there were but few idlers about to notice their departure . At length the mills loosed , and Foster hurried home , and , after a hasty tea , told his wife that an engagement would take him from home for a few hours , and that she must not be alarmed if he was a little late . Then , having put on a stout overcoat , he made his way through the higher part of the town , and past the vicarage , and was soon in the open country . It was past seven o'clock when he reached the place where the footpath leading to the old Hall met the highroad . It was still raining , though not heavily ; but thick , leaden-coloured clouds brooded over the whole scene , and served to deepen the approaching darkness . It was certainly an evening not calculated to raise any one 's spirits ; and the harsh wind , as it swept over the wide expanse of the treeless fields , with their stern-looking stone fences , added to the depressing influences of the hour . But Foster was a man not easily daunted by such things , and he had stridden on manfully , fully occupied by his own thoughts , till he reached the stile where the footpath to the ruins began .