four o'clock
Lord Alfred had not been seen since the day of the dinner . The Duchess of Albury , too , went into the country some weeks earlier than usual , quelled , as the world said , by the general Melmotte failure . But this departure had not as yet taken place at the time at which we have now arrived . When the Speaker took his seat in the House , soon after four o'clock , there were a great many members present , and a general feeling prevailed that the world was more than ordinarily alive because of Melmotte and his failures . It had been confidently asserted throughout the morning that he would be put upon his trial for forgery in reference to the purchase of the Pickering property from Mr. Longestaffe , and it was known that he had not as yet shown himself anywhere on this day . People had gone to look at the house in Grosvenor Square , -- not knowing that he was still living in Mr. Longestaffe 's house in Bruton Street , and had come away with the impression that the desolation of ruin and crime was already plainly to be seen upon it . `` I wonder where he is , '' said Mr. Lupton to Mr. Beauchamp Beauclerk in one of the lobbies of the House .