eleven
o'clock
In fact , his heart had been getting so big in the last few weeks that it seemed capable of taking in the whole of mankind , not to mention woman , till , on the whole , it may be safely asserted that , had matters been at all in a more forward state , and could she have seen exactly what was passing in his mind , Mary would probably have objected to the kind of affection which he felt for his cousin at this particular time . The joke about cousinly love is probably as old , and certainly as true , as Solomon 's proverbs . However , as matters stood , it could be no concern of Mary 's what his feelings were towards Katie , or any other person . Tom rode in at the lodge gate of the Grange soon after eleven o'clock , and walked his horse slowly through the park , admiring the splendid timber , and thinking how he should break his request to the owner of the place . But his thoughts were interrupted by the proceedings of the rabbits , which were out by hundreds all along the sides of the plantations , and round the great trees . A few of the nearest just deigned to notice him by scampering to their holes under the roots of the antlered oaks , into which some of them popped with a disdainful kick of their hind legs , while others turned round , sat up , and looked at him . As he neared the house he passed a keeper 's cottage , and was saluted by the barking of dogs from the neighboring kennel ; and the young pheasants ran about round some twenty hen-coops , which were arranged along opposite the door where the keeper 's children were playing .