five o'clock in the
afternoon
For him the word home had no tender associations , and the domestic hearth had never inspired him with any sense of comfort or pleasure with which he might not have been inspired by the luxurious fireside of a first-class coffee-room . He was a man who would have chosen to spend his existence in joint-stock hotels , if there had not been solidity of position to be acquired from the possession of a handsome house . He went to the Paddington church . It was only five o'clock in the afternoon by the clock of that edifice . The church was closely shut , but Mr. Sheldon found the clerk , who , in consideration of a handsome donation , took him to the vestry , and there showed him the register of marriages -- the last entry therein . Yes , there was Charlotte Halliday 's signature , a little uncertain and tremulous . `` I suppose you are one of the young lady 's relations , sir , '' said the clerk .