noon
The two gentlemen could not help laughing at this ; and mounting their horses rode on without delay , after telling each other that Mr. Tebrick , whoever he was , was certainly a madman , and the old woman seemed as mad as her master . This story , however , went the rounds of the gentry in those parts and perfectly confirmed everyone in their previous opinion , namely that Mr. Tebrick was mad and his wife had run away from him . The part about her being a vixen was laughed at by the few that heard it , but was soon left out as immaterial to the story , and incredible in itself , though afterwards it came to be remembered and its significance to be understood . When Mr. Tebrick came to himself it was past noon , and his head was aching so painfully that he could only call to mind in a confused way what had happened . However , he sent off Mrs. Cork 's son directly on one of his horses to enquire about the hunt . At the same time he gave orders to old Nanny that she was to put out food and water for her mistress , on the chance that she might yet be in the neighbourhood . By nightfall Simon was back with the news that the hunt had had a very long run but had lost one fox , then , drawing a covert , had chopped an old dog fox , and so ended the day 's sport .