two after midday
Herein the old nobleman gave a further description of the accident , but the main business of the communication was to ask her if , since he was not as yet very active , she would come to Enckworth Court and delight himself and a small group of friends who were visiting there . She pondered over the letter as she walked by the shore that day , and after some hesitation decided to go . It was on a dull , stagnant , noiseless afternoon of autumn that Ethelberta first crossed the threshold of Enckworth Court . The daylight was so lowered by the impervious roof of cloud overhead that it scarcely reached further into Lord Mountclere 's entrance-hall than to the splays of the windows , even but an hour or two after midday ; and indoors the glitter of the fire reflected itself from the very panes , so inconsiderable were the opposing rays . Enckworth Court , in its main part , had not been standing more than a hundred years . At that date the weakened portions of the original mediaeval structure were pulled down and cleared away , old jambs being carried off for rick-staddles , and the foliated timbers of the hall roof making themselves useful as fancy chairs in the summer-houses of rising inns . A new block of masonry was built up from the ground of such height and lordliness that the remnant of the old pile left standing became as a mere cup-bearer and culinary menial beside it .