six o'clock
Osborne had also been from home , and he had not volunteered any information as to his absence . The Squire believed that Osborne had been either at Cambridge with his brother , or in London ; he would have liked to hear where his son had been , what he had been doing , and whom he had seen , purely as pieces of news , and as some diversion from the domestic worries and cares which were pressing him hard ; but he was too proud to ask any questions , and Osborne had not given him any details of his journey . This silence had aggravated the Squire 's internal dissatisfaction , and he came home to dinner weary and sore-hearted a day or two after Osborne 's return . It was just six o'clock , and he went hastily into his own little business-room on the ground-floor , and , after washing his hands , came into the drawing-room feeling as if he were very late , but the room was empty . He glanced at the clock over the mantel-piece , as he tried to warm his hands at the fire . The fire had been neglected , and had gone out during the day ; it was now piled up with half-dried wood , which sputtered and smoked instead of doing its duty in blazing and warming the room , through which the keen wind was cutting its way in all directions . The clock had stopped , no one had remembered to wind it up , but by the squire 's watch it was already past dinner-time .