nearly ten o'clock
Was he crumbling ? In these months she could not quite be sure , and she tried to shut her eyes when the little pieces fell off , to remind herself that she must make allowances for the severity of his disappointment . Spring was here , the spring to which he had so eagerly looked forward , and yet the listlessness with which he went about his work was apparent . Sometimes he did not appear at breakfast , although Honora clung with desperation to the hour they had originally fixed : sometimes Mr. Manning waited for him until nearly ten o'clock , only to receive curt dismissal . He went off for long rides , alone , and to the despair of the groom brought back the horses in a lather , with drooping heads and heaving sides ; one of them he ruined . He declared there was n't a horse in the stable fit to give him exercise . Often he sat for hours in his study , brooding , inaccessible .