ten o'clock
They sat in the garden , the morning being warm , and the old man had a table beside him covered with the letters and newspapers the post had poured forth . He was proud of his correspondence , which was altogether on public affairs , and proud in a manner of the fact that he now dictated almost everything . That had more in it of the statesman in retirement , a character indeed not consciously assumed by Mr. Carteret , but always tacitly attributed to him by Nick , who took it rather from the pictorial point of view -- remembering on each occasion only afterwards that though he was in retirement he had not exactly been a statesman . A young man , a very sharp , handy young man , came every morning at ten o'clock and wrote for him till luncheon . The young man had a holiday to-day in honour of Nick 's visit -- a fact the mention of which led Nick to make some not particularly sincere speech about _ his _ being ready to write anything if Mr. Carteret were at all pressed . `` Ah but your own budget -- what will become of that ? '' the old gentleman objected , glancing at Nick 's pockets as if rather surprised not to see them stuffed out with documents in split envelopes .