five o'clock
Their examination of his effects was more thorough than usual . It may have entered their heads that he was standing guard over the repose of a fair accomplice . They asked so many embarrassing and disconcerting questions that he was devoutly relieved when they passed on , still suspicious . The train was late , and at five o'clock he was desperately combating an impulse to leave it at Strassburg , find lodging in a hotel , and then , refreshed , set out for London to have it out with the malevolent Medcroft . The disembarking of the venerable mourners , however , restored him to a degree of his peace of mind . After all , he reviewed , it would be cowardly and base to desert a trusting wife ; he pictured her as asleep and securely confident in his stanchness . No : he would have it out with Medcroft at some later day .