about six o'clock
But the mind of the rider groped in confusion and despair , seeing no way out . Only one definite purpose gathered strength -- to throw himself on the counsel of Sir James Chide . Chide had known -- from the beginning ! Marsham reached Felton Hall about six o'clock . The house , a large Georgian erection , belonging to pleasant easy-going people with many friends , was full of guests , and the thought of the large party which he must face at dinner and in the evening had been an additional weight in his burden during the long ride home . No means of escaping it , or the gossip with regard to himself , which must , he knew , be raging among the guests ! That gossip had not troubled him when he had set forth in the early afternoon .