two o'clock in the afternoon
For she 's better than I am -- there 's less o ' self in her , and pride . And it 's a feeling as gives you a sort o ' liberty , as if you could walk more fearless , when you 've more trust in another than y ' have in yourself . I 've always been thinking I knew better than them as belonged to me , and that 's a poor sort o ' life , when you ca n't look to them nearest to you t ' help you with a bit better thought than what you 've got inside you a ` ready . '' It was more than two o'clock in the afternoon when Adam came in sight of the grey town on the hill-side and looked searchingly towards the green valley below , for the first glimpse of the old thatched roof near the ugly red mill . The scene looked less harsh in the soft October sunshine than it had in the eager time of early spring , and the one grand charm it possessed in common with all wide-stretching woodless regions -- that it filled you with a new consciousness of the overarching sky -- had a milder , more soothing influence than usual , on this almost cloudless day . Adam 's doubts and fears melted under this influence as the delicate weblike clouds had gradually melted away into the clear blue above him . He seemed to see Dinah 's gentle face assuring him , with its looks alone , of all he longed to know .