two
hours after noon
How could he , poor youth , when Miss Clarina Mowbray only talked upon high life , till proud Colonel Pompley went in state through the history of the Siege of Seringapatam ? CHAPTER IV . While Leonard accustoms himself gradually to the splendours that surround him , and often turns with a sigh to the remembrance of his mother 's cottage and the sparkling fount in the Italian 's flowery garden , we will make with thee , O reader , a rapid flight to the metropolis , and drop ourselves amidst the gay groups that loiter along the dusty ground or loll over the roadside palings of Hyde Park . The season is still at its height ; but the short day of fashionable London life , which commences two hours after noon , is in its decline . The crowd in Rotten Row begins to thin . Near the statue of Achilles , and apart from all other loungers , a gentleman , with one hand thrust into his waistcoat , and the other resting on his cane , gazed listlessly on the horsemen and carriages in the brilliant ring . He was still in the prime of life , at the age when man is usually the most social , -- when the acquaintances of youth have ripened into friendships , and a personage of some rank and fortune has become a well-known feature in the mobile face of society .