the
first hour after noon
Thus saying , he turned gaily on his heel , and left the Earl 's cabinet . `` You must excuse him , Mr. Brown , '' said the Earl , as soon as he was gone ; `` he is wild with spirits and youth , but he will soon , I trust , demean himself more properly . '' Wilton made no reply , but thought that if the demeanour of the son was not altogether pleasant , the demeanour of the father was ten times worse . When the three letters were written , Lord Byerdale immediately informed Wilton that he should have no farther occupation for him that day , although the clock had not much passed the first hour after noon ; and as it was evident that he had no inclination to encourage any intimacy between him and his son , the young gentleman retired to his own lodgings , and ordering his horse to be brought round quickly , prepared to take a lengthened ride into the country . Before the horse could be saddled , however , a servant announced Lord Sherbrooke , and the next moment the son of the Earl of Byerdale entered the room . There was something in the name that sounded familiar in the ears of Wilton Brown , he could not tell why . He almost expected to see a familiar face present itself at the open door ; for so little had been the communication between himself and the Earl of Byerdale , that he had never known till that morning that the Earl had a son , nor ever heard the second title of the family before .