three o'clock
I 'll go and see my old friend Michael Marston ; we 'll dine at the George , and go up to London by the express which leaves Winchester at a quarter past ten . Go and order the carriage , and lose no time about it , that 's a good fellow . '' Half an hour after this the two men left Southampton in an open carriage , with the banker 's portmanteau , dressing-case , and despatch-box , and Joseph Wilmot 's carpet-bag . It was three o'clock when the carriage drove away from the entrance of the Dolphin Hotel : it wanted five minutes to four when Mr. Dunbar and his companion entered the handsome hall of the George . Throughout the drive the banker had been in very excellent spirits , smoking cheroots , and admiring the lovely English landscape , the spreading pastures , the glimpses of woodland , the hills beyond the grey cathedral city , purple in the distance . He had talked a good deal , making himself very familiar with his humble friend . But he had not talked so much or so loudly as Joseph Wilmot .