nearly ten o'clock before
The two men remained silent during most of that cold , laborious journey . The doctor 's few attempts at conversation fell flat , and he took refuge finally in his pipe . As for the tutor , he had his hands full , steering his team between the lane-side ditches , and thinking of the wrecked life that lay waiting at the journey 's end . It was nearly ten o'clock before the dim lights of Maxfield Manor showed ahead . The snow on the home-drive was undisturbed by the wheels of any other vehicle . The mother and son had not returned , at any rate , yet . As the two men entered , the hall was full of scared domestics , talking in undertones , and feeding on the occasional bulletin which the privileged Raffles was permitted to carry from the sick-room to the outer world .