about four o'clock
Four-square it stood , of an imposing frontage , and flanked on either side by family hatchments . His eye , from where he stood whistling in the key , with his back to the garden railings , reposed on every feature of reality ; and yet his own possession seemed as flimsy as a dream . In the course of a few days , the genteel inhabitants of the square began to remark the customs of their neighbour . The sight of a young gentleman discussing a clay pipe , about four o'clock of the afternoon , in the drawing-room balcony of so discreet a mansion ; and perhaps still more , his periodical excursion to a decent tavern in the neighbourhood , and his unabashed return , nursing the full tankard : had presently raised to a high pitch the interest and indignation of the liveried servants of the square . The disfavour of some of these gentlemen at first proceeded to the length of insult ; but Somerset knew how to be affable with any class of men ; and a few rude words merrily accepted , and a few glasses amicably shared , gained for him the right of toleration . The young man had embraced the art of Raphael , partly from a notion of its ease , partly from an inborn distrust of offices . He scorned to bear the yoke of any regular schooling ; and proceeded to turn one half of the dining-room into a studio for the reproduction of still life .