About twelve o'clock
Nor were the governor and physician unemployed , while their friends interested themselves in this agreeable manner . Jolter no sooner perceived the Hollander was a Jew , than he entered into an investigation of the Hebrew tongue , in which he was a connoisseur ; and the doctor at the same time attacked the mendicant on the ridiculous maxims of his order , together with the impositions of priestcraft in general , which , he observed , prevailed so much among those who profess the Roman Catholic religion . Thus coupled , each committee enjoyed their own conversation apart , without any danger of encroachment ; and all were so intent upon their several topics , that they scarce allowed themselves a small interval in viewing the desolation of Menin , as they passed through that ruined frontier . About twelve o'clock they arrived at Courtray , where the horses are always changed , and the company halt an hour for refreshment . Here Peregrine handed his charmer into an apartment , where she was joined by the other lady ; and on pretence of seeing some of the churches in town , put himself under the direction of the Capuchin , from whom he learned that the lady was wife to a French gentleman , to whom she had been married about a year , and that she was now on her journey to visit her mother , who lived in Brussels , and was at that time laboured under a lingering distemper , which , in all probability , would soon put a period to her life . He then launched out in praise of her daughter 's virtue and conjugal affection ; and , lastly , told him , that he was her father-confessor , and pitched upon to be her conductor through Flanders , by her husband , as well as his wife , placed the utmost confidence in his prudence and integrity . Pickle easily comprehended the meaning of this insinuation , and took the hint accordingly .