two o’clock
Miss Stackpole would have prepared to start immediately ; but Isabel , as we have seen , had been notified that Lord Warburton would come again to Gardencourt , and she believed it her duty to remain there and see him . For four or five days he had made no response to her letter ; then he had written , very briefly , to say he would come to luncheon two days later . There was something in these delays and postponements that touched the girl and renewed her sense of his desire to be considerate and patient , not to appear to urge her too grossly ; a consideration the more studied that she was so sure he `` really liked '' her . Isabel told her uncle she had written to him , mentioning also his intention of coming ; and the old man , in consequence , left his room earlier than usual and made his appearance at the two o'clock repast . This was by no means an act of vigilance on his part , but the fruit of a benevolent belief that his being of the company might help to cover any conjoined straying away in case Isabel should give their noble visitor another hearing . That personage drove over from Lockleigh and brought the elder of his sisters with him , a measure presumably dictated by reflexions of the same order as Mr. Touchett 's . The two visitors were introduced to Miss Stackpole , who , at luncheon , occupied a seat adjoining Lord Warburton 's .