eleven
o'clock at night
In fact , the advantages which they had anticipated by their town residence were not realised . In our situation , we were as far off from most of our friends , and still farther from some than we were before , and we had no longer the same amusements to offer them . At our former short distance from town , access was more easy to those who did not keep a carriage , that is , the young men ; and those were the parties who , of course , my wife and daughters cared for most . It was very agreeable to come down with their portmanteaus , -- enjoy the fresh air and green lanes of the country for an afternoon , -- dine , sleep , and breakfast , and return the next morning by conveyances which passed us every quarter of an hour ; but to dine with us in -- square , when the expense of a hackney-coach there and back was no trifle , and to return at eleven o'clock at night , was not at all agreeable . We found that we had not so much society , nor were we half so much courted , as at Brompton Hall . This was the bitterest blow of all , and my wife and daughters would look out of the windows and sigh ; often a whole day passed without one friend or acquaintance dropping in to relieve its monotony . We continued to reside there , nevertheless , for I had made up my mind that the three years would be well spent if they cured my wife and daughters of their town mania ; and although anxious as I am sure they were to return , I never broached the matter , for I was determined that the cure should be radical .