nearly twelve
o'clock
so I hear ! Well -- good-day , Mrs. Spruce ! '' cried Lord Drelincourt , and the next moment they had dashed off , in their last stage , and at a thundering pace , to be sure . It was nearly twelve o'clock at noon , and the day was bright and beautiful -- and there was a fresh and exhilarating breeze stirring , which oft came laden with the rich scents of summer fields . `` Oh Agnes ! oh Kate ! what a contrast is this to the day on which our horses ' heads , two years ago , were turned the other way ! ''