four o'clock
As we advanced into the very heart of the country , the character of the scenery changed , and became of a more woodland description . Hedges on both sides of the road bounded our view , but there was ample compensation for this in these delicious hedges themselves , in which hawthorn stood out in sturdy independence from among the intricacies of shrubs and brambles , that imprisoned their stems , while they scattered their snowy blossoms on the shining leaves and green patches of grass beneath them ; in which the frail but daring eglantine twined its weak tendrils round the withered trunk of some hollow , worn-out oak ; in which the wild clematis and the feathery traveller 's - joy , as children love to call it , flung their fairy flowers in reckless profusion over the tangled mass from whence they sprung . There was enough in these hedges to make up for the loss of views ; but we had views too , when , for a moment , a gate , a stile , a gap in the hedge itself , opened to us glimpses of such woods and dells as we read of in the Midsummer Night 's Dream . We reached Brandon at four o'clock . It stands in the midst of what was formerly a chase of immense extent , and which now forms a park of extraordinary size , and of singular beauty . The hand of man seems to have done but little to improve that beauty : the house stands as if by chance in the midst of a wilderness of downy hills and grassy valleys , of hawthorn groves , and wild commons , of remnants of forests , and miles of underwood . I was so engrossed by the strange character of this , to me , perfectly novel scenery , that I thought little of anything else as we drove up to the house : and when on reaching the entrance door , the servants rushed to let down the step , and seize upon the luggage , I felt taken by surprise ; rousing myself , I took an affectionate leave of Mrs. Hatton , who was proceeding to her own home in the town of -- , about ten miles beyond Brandon , and we did not part without my promising her , that , if I could possible contrive it , I would visit her there before I left Dorsetshire .