noon
Humphrey continued , ` his poor bereft mother . Would to God I knew how to comfort her . ' It was then arranged that Humphrey should set off , without loss of time , for Penshurst , stopping at Tunbridge on the road to institute inquiries there . George Ratcliffe was also returning home with several horses which had been over-strained in the tourney of the day before , and both brothers left London together , with Ned on the baggage horse with the serving-man , before noon , George scarcely less heavy-hearted than Humphrey , and too much absorbed in his own troubles to be alive to his brother 's . What was the loss of little Ambrose when compared with the utter hopelessness he felt about Lucy . George rode moodily by his brother 's side , scarcely heeding what he saw , and torturing himself with the careless indifference with which Lucy had treated him . He had asked her to come to his mother 's lodgings , and she had refused , saying , -- ` You have Mistress Dorothy here , you can not want me .