noon
After a paragraph or so our blood Is up , and even our jaded hackneys scud along , and warm up into friskiness . The Duke awoke : another day of his eventful life is now to run its course . He found that the Bird of Paradise had not returned from an excursion to a neighbouring park : he left a note for her , apprising her of his departure to London , and he despatched an affectionate letter to Lady Aphrodite , which was the least that he could do , considering that he perhaps quitted Brighton the day of her arrival . And having done all this , he ordered his horses , and before noon was on his first stage . It was his birthday . He had completed his twenty-third year . This was sufficient , even if he had no other inducement , to make him indulge in some slight reflection .