six o'clock
`` Yes , '' said the curate , quietly , `` my carriage . And now , if you please , we will go and see Mr. Gessner . He is a Pole , Mr. Kennedy , and one of the richest men in London to-day . '' It was six o'clock as the carriage passed Swiss Cottage station and ten minutes later when they had climbed the stiff hill to the Heath . Alban had not often ridden in a carriage , but he would have found his sensations very difficult to set down . The glossy cushions , the fine ivory and silver fittings , were ornaments to be touched with caressing fingers as one touches the coat of a beautiful animal or the ripe bloom upon fruit . Just to loll back in such a vehicle , to watch the houses and the people and the streets , was an experience he had not hitherto imagined .