three o'clock
said Robert , as he returned to the little sitting-room . `` Then I 'll follow her by the next train ; and if I 'm not very much mistaken , I know where to find her . '' He packed his portmanteau , paid his bill , fastened his dogs together with a couple of leathern collars and a chain , and stepped into the rumbling fly kept by the Castle Inn for the convenience of Mount Stanning . He caught an express that left Brentwood at three o'clock , and settled himself comfortably in a corner of an empty first-class carriage , coiled up in a couple of railway rugs , and smoking a cigar in mild defiance of the authorities . It was exactly five minutes past four as Mr. Robert Audley stepped out upon the platform at Shoreditch , and waited placidly until such time as his dogs and his portmanteau should be delivered up to the attendant porter who had called his cab , and undertaken the general conduct of his affairs , with that disinterested courtesy which does such infinite credit to a class of servitors who are forbidden to accept the tribute of a grateful public . Robert Audley waited with consummate patience for a considerable time ; but as the express was generally a long train , and as there were a great many passengers from Norfolk carrying guns and pointers , and other paraphernalia of a critical description , it took a long while to make matters agreeable to all claimants , and even the barrister 's seraphic indifference to mundane affairs nearly gave way . `` Perhaps , when that gentleman who is making such a noise about a pointer with liver-colored spots , has discovered the particular pointer and spots that he wants -- which happy combination of events scarcely seems likely to arrive -- they 'll give me my luggage and let me go .