the hour of
five in the afternoon
Mr. Pickle , having found means to amuse them in the fields till the twilight , was obliged to wish them good even , after having obtained a solemn repetition of their promise to meet him at the appointed time and place , and then retreated to his apartment , where he spent the whole night in various conjectures on the subject of the letter , the Gordian knot of which he could by no means untie . One while he imagined that some wag had played a trick on his messenger , in consequence of which Emilia had received a supposititious letter ; but , upon farther reflection , he could not conceive the practicability of any such deceit . Then he began to doubt the sincerity of his mistress , who perhaps had only made that a handle for discarding him , at the request of some favoured rival ; but his own integrity forbade him to harbour this mean suspicion ; and therefore he was again involved in the labyrinth of perplexity . Next day he waited on the rack of impatience for the hour of five in the afternoon , which no sooner struck than he ordered Pipes to attend him , in case there should be occasion for his evidence , and repaired to the place of rendezvous , where he had not tarried five minutes before the ladies appeared . Mutual compliments being passed , and the attendant stationed at a convenient distance , Peregrine persuaded them to sit down upon the grass , under the shade of a spreading oak , that they might be more at their ease ; while he stretched himself at their feet , and desired that the paper on which his doom depended might be examined . It was accordingly put into the hand of his fair arbitress , who read it immediately with an audible voice . The first two words of it were no sooner pronounced , than he started , with great emotion , and raised himself upon his hand and knee , in which posture he listened to the rest of the sentence ; then sprang upon his feet in the utmost astonishment , and , glowing with resentment at the same time , exclaimed , `` Hell and the devil !