eleven o'clock
`` He rode ... at dawn ? '' faltered Ruth , and for a moment she stood irresolute , afraid and pondering in the shade of the great pillared porch . Then she took heart again . If he rode at dawn , it was not in quest of Richard that he went , since it had been near eleven o'clock when she had left Bridgwater . He must have gone on other business first , and , doubtless , before he went to the encounter he would be returning home . `` Said he at what hour he would return ? '' she asked .