nine o'clock
On the road our ardent youth arranged in his head a noble scheme . He would bring Peggy Black home with him , compensating her liberally for the place she would thereby lose : would confront her privately with his father , and convince him it was his interest to restore the Dodds their money with a good grace , take the L. 5000 he had already offered , and countenance the wedding by letting Jane be present at it . It was hard to do all this in the time , but well worth trying for , and not impossible . A two-horse fly is not a slow conveyance , and he offered the man a guinea to drive fast ; so that it was not nine o'clock when they reached Silverton Grove House , a place Alfred had never heard of . This , however , I may observe , was no wonder : for it had not borne that name a twelve-month . It was a large square mansion of red brick , with stone facings and corners , and with balustrades that hid the garret windows . It stood in its own grounds , and the entrance was through handsome iron gates , one of which was wide open to admit people on foot or horseback .