five o'clock
` Your menace effects my instant conversion , ' replied Mr. Pole . ` I will admire him as much as you desire , only do not insist upon my reading his works . ' ` I have not the slightest doubt you know them by heart , ' rejoined her ladyship . Mr. Pole smiled , bowed , and disappeared ; and Lady Monteagle sat down to write a billet to Lord Cadurcis , to entreat him to be with her at five o'clock , which was at least half an hour before the other guests were expected . The Monteagles were considered to dine ridiculously late . Marmion Herbert , sprung from one of the most illustrious families in England , became at an early age the inheritor of a great estate , to which , however , he did not succeed with the prejudices or opinions usually imbibed or professed by the class to which he belonged . While yet a boy , Marmion Herbert afforded many indications of possessing a mind alike visionary and inquisitive , and both , although not in an equal degree , sceptical and creative .