about five in the afternoon
Previously to his writing to the bishop , the younger Henry 's heart , all his inclinations , had swayed him towards a visit to the village in which was his uncle 's former country-seat , the beloved village of Anfield , but respect to him and duty to his father had made him check those wishes ; now they revived again , and , with the image of Rebecca before his eyes , he warmly entreated his father to go with him to Anfield , at present only thirty miles distant , and thence write once more ; then again wait the will of his uncle . The father consented to this proposal , even glad to postpone the visit to his dignified brother . After a scanty repast , such as they had been long inured to , they quitted the inn , and took the road towards Anfield . It was about five in the afternoon of a summer 's day , that Henry and his son left the sign of the Mermaid to pursue their third day 's journey : the young man 's spirits elated with the prospect of the reception he should meet from Rebecca : the elder dejected at not having received a speedy welcome from his brother . The road which led to Anfield by the shortest course of necessity took our travellers within sight of the bishop 's palace . The turrets appeared at a distance ; and on the sudden turn round the corner of a large plantation , the whole magnificent structure was at once exhibited before his brother 's astonished eyes . He was struck with the grandeur of the habitation ; and , totally forgetting all the unkind , the contemptuous treatment he had ever received from its owner -LRB- like the same Henry in his earlier years -RRB- , smiled with a kind of transport `` that William was so great a man . ''