about three o’clock
They decided to go to an hotel . Changing their direction , therefore , they went back to the Strand , and soon ensconced themselves in one of the venerable old taverns of Covent Garden , a precinct which in those days was frequented by West-country people . Jocelyn then left her and proceeded on his errand eastward . It was about three o'clock when , having arranged all preliminaries necessitated by this sudden change of front , he began strolling slowly back ; he felt bewildered , and to walk was a relief . Gazing occasionally into this shop window and that , he called a hansom as by an inspiration , and directed the driver to ` Mellstock Gardens . ' Arrived here , he rang the bell of a studio , and in a minute or two it was answered by a young man in shirt-sleeves , about his own age , with a great smeared palette on his left thumb . ` O , you , Pierston !