midday
I daresay she has forgotten me by this time . A fortnight is an age with some women ; and I should fancy Charlotte Halliday just one of those bright impressionable beings who forget easily . I wonder whether she is _ really _ like that ` Molly ' whose miniature was found by Mrs. Haygarth in the tulip-leaf escritoire ; or was the resemblance between those two faces only a silly fancy of mine ? '' Mr. Hawkehurst walked the whole distance from Chelsea to Gray 's Inn ; and it was midday when he presented himself before George Sheldon , whom he found seated at his desk with the elephantine pedigree of the Haygarths open before him , and profoundly absorbed in the contents of a note-book . He looked up from this note-book as Valentine entered , but did not leave off chewing the end of his pencil as he mumbled a welcome to the returning wanderer . It has been seen that neither of the Sheldon brothers were demonstrative men . After that unceremonious greeting , the lawyer continued his perusal of the note-book for some minutes , while Valentine seated himself in a clumsy leather-covered arm-chair by the fireplace .