noon
After an hour or two of purposeless rambling , he decided to ask for an interview . He might learn something that really concerned him ; in any case , it was a final meeting with Marcella , to whom he perhaps owed this much courtesy . The reply was as prompt as that from Earwaker . By the morning post came a letter inviting him to call upon Miss Moxey as soon as possible before noon . She added , ` My brother is away in the country ; you will meet no one here . ' By eleven o'clock he was at Notting Hill ; in the drawing-room , he sat alone for two or three minutes . Marcella entered silently , and came towards him without a smile ; he saw that she read his face eagerly , if not with a light of triumph in her eyes .