midnight
Well , well ! If any mortal man , old or young , could `` dislike '' a woman with a face like hers and eyes so tender , such an one would have to be a criminal or a madman ! In a little while they fell into conversation as naturally as if they had known each other for years : Sir Francis listening with profound interest to the story of his old friend 's last days . And presently , despatching a telegram to his wife to say that he was detained in the city by pressing business , he took Mary out with him to a quiet little restaurant where he dined with her , and finally saw her off from Paddington station by the midnight train for Minehead . Nothing would induce her to stay in London , -- her one aim and object in life now was to return to Weircombe and explain everything to Angus as quickly as possible . And when the train had gone , Sir Francis left the platform in a state of profound abstraction , and was driven home in his brougham feeling more like a sentimentalist than a lawyer . `` Extraordinary ! ''