ten o'clock
One was to be his missive to the squire , to be delivered by his friend ; the other , that fatal epistle to poor Lily , which , as the day passed away , he found himself utterly unable to accomplish . The letter to the squire he did write , under certain threats ; and , as we have seen , was considered to have degraded himself to the vermin rank of humanity by the meanness of his production . But on reaching his office he found that other cares awaited him , -- cares which he would have taken much delight in bearing , had the state of his mind enabled him to take delight in anything . On entering the lobby of his office , at ten o'clock , he became aware that he was received by the messengers assembled there with almost more than their usual deference . He was always a great man at the General Committee Office ; but there are shades of greatness and shades of deference , which , though quite beyond the powers of definition , nevertheless manifest themselves clearly to the experienced ear and eye . He walked through to his own apartment , and there found two official letters addressed to him lying on his table . The first which came to hand , though official , was small , and marked private , and it was addressed in the handwriting of his old friend , Butterwell , the outgoing secretary .