seven o'clock
And often the grand meanings of faces as well as of written words may lie chiefly in the impressions that happen just now to be of importance in relation to Deronda , rowing on the Thames in a very ordinary equipment for a young Englishman at leisure , and passing under Kew Bridge with no thought of an adventure in which his appearance was likely to play any part . In fact , he objected very strongly to the notion , which others had not allowed him to escape , that his appearance was of a kind to draw attention ; and hints of this , intended to be complimentary , found an angry resonance in him , coming from mingled experiences , to which a clue has already been given . His own face in the glass had during many years associated for him with thoughts of some one whom he must be like -- one about whose character and lot he continually wondered , and never dared to ask . In the neighborhood of Kew Bridge , between six and seven o'clock , the river was no solitude . Several persons were sauntering on the towing-path , and here and there a boat was plying . Deronda had been rowing fast to get over this spot , when , becoming aware of a great barge advancing toward him , he guided his boat aside , and rested on his oar within a couple of yards of the river-brink . He was all the while unconsciously continuing the low-toned chant which had haunted his throat all the way up the river -- the gondolier 's song in the _ Otello _ , where Rossini has worthily set to music the immortal words of Dante , `` Nessun maggior dolore Che ricordarsi del tempo felice Nella miseria '' : -LSB- Footnote : Dante 's words are best rendered by our own poet in the lines at the head of the chapter . -RSB-