seven o'clock
He had even been told that he was to expect information of a painful kind . Not one word had been said to give him the expectation of a bright destiny : and yet there was something so sweet , so happy , in having found any one whose tenderness had been bestowed upon his infant years , and whose affection had remained unchanged by time and absence , that hope -- as hope always is -- was born of happiness ; and though that hope was wild , uncertain , and unfounded , it made the natural eagerness of youth all the more eager . When he lay down to rest he slept not , but still many a vision floated before his waking eyes , and thought made the night seem short . On the following morning he was early up and dressed ; but by seven o'clock a note was put into his hand , in a writing which he did not know . On opening it , however , he found it to contain a request , couched in the most courteous terms , from the Duke of Gaveston , that he would call upon him immediately , and before he went to the house of Lord Byerdale . There was scarcely time to do so ; but he instantly ordered his horse , and galloped to Beaufort House as fast as possible . He was ushered immediately into a small saloon , and thence into the dressing-room of the Duke , whom he found in a state of considerable agitation , and evidently embarrassed even in explaining to him what he wanted .