ten o'clock
Richard Bates raced , and habitually ran after women -- that is , when he possessed the use of his legs and was able to run . But he was a heavy drinker , and it was no unusual thing for the helpers at the Roebuck stables to have to get out a conveyance at closing time and drive Richard , speechless , motionless , to Vine-Pits Farm . He never went to the Gauntlet , but always to the Roebuck -- beginning the evening in the hotel billiard-room , trying to swagger it out at pool with the solicitor and the doctor , then drifting to the stable bar , and finishing the evening there , or outside in the open yard . One could imagine the feelings of the old father , waiting up all alone , knowing from experience what the sound of wheels implied after ten o'clock . Will said once that he believed Mr. Bates was glad Mrs. Bates had n't been spared to see it . And Mavis , moving at last from the window , thought that she was not the only sad inhabitant of Rodchurch . There is a cruel lot of sorrow in most people 's lives .